Buying a product from any company is a decision that involves some level of trust.  Trust and confidence in a company’s technological expertise, management philosophy and ethics becomes increasingly important as the complexity of the product increases.  For example, we require more competence from an aircraft manufacturer than from a golf ball company (although we know some golfers who would disagree).  Every component car kit has a high level of complexity.  The team of professionals at any company are the ones you’ll be trusting to do things right.

Our team is made up of people who race, build and drive these cars.  There’s not a salesman in the bunch and we’ve distinguished ourselves from the rest of the crowd by hiring technically qualified professionals.  We want you to meet a few of the people that work here everyday and make this company the special organization that it is.
 

Mark Smith, Owner, R&D Genius

Bachelor of Science, Univ. of Michigan 1984, MBA Bentley, 1991.  Mark is the founder of FFR.  He has worked as a R&D Engineer and polymer chemist with over 25 U.S. and international patents to his credit.  Has restored everything from 1950’s MG’s and Jaguars to 1970’s Muscle cars. 

Mark’s daily driver is a 100K mile Land Rover.  He also drives a vintage GT350 Shelby Mustang and a mint 1968 Dodge Challenger RT.  Mark is a licensed pilot and is building a P-51 Mustang.  He recently began restoring a 1972 Norton Dunstall Commando and has an unassuming eight car garage at home.  Mark is a good welder and a true master of all things mechanical.

David Smith, Owner, President

Bachelor of Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1986.  Started FFR after eight years of working in Medical Device and Pharmaceutical manufacturing field.  Has held positions as Director of QA/QC, Director of Operations.  Expert in ISO-9000, GMP, Engineering Configuration Management and Regulatory Affairs. American Society of QC, 1991. 

Dave’s daily driver is a black Porsche 911.   Dave is a licensed road-racer and has completed the Bondurant School and the Freddie Spencer Motorcycle Racing School.   Dave sums up his priorities in life, “God, my wife and kids, and putting dead dinosaurs to good use”.  Dave owns a 1993 Ducati 900SS Superlight and he races an FFR Spec Racer in the National series.

Mark Weber, Technical Sales and Marketing

B.S. Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Univ. of Mich., 1985.  Has over 14 years experience in the automotive industry. Worked four years as a reliability engineer at General Motors.  Advanced to Bosch Corp. to work in Technical Sales/Customer Service in fuel injection systems. 

Jesper Ingerslev, R&D Engineer, Project Leader and Manuf Systems

B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1996.  Jesper is the lead engineer responsible for all Roadster and Coupe projects.  He has worked on all facets of kit line production and engineering.  In school he managed the automotive shop at Rennselaer, and worked on a Baja race car team.

Jim Schenck, R&D Engineer, Project Leader

B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1996.  Jim began his work with FFR as a customer.  He owns and races an FFR Spec Racer.  Jim worked as crew for an Ohio based race team and has earned distinction at FFR with his technical driving skills.  Jim has attended the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving (advanced school) and is a licensed road-racer.

Dave Riha, R&D Mechanical Engineer, Technical Product Manager

B.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Fall 2003.  Dave has worked on a variety of projects for Factory Five.  He started out as an intern working in the composite molding area.  Dave had a huge part in the design of the body shape for the GTM.  Dave helps folks with kit orders, technical support and he works as Product Manager in support of R&D/New Product Development.

Dave owns two FFRs, a pristine red roadster and a Spec Racer (he built both himself).  Dave is a gifted engineer, a straight shooter with the high ethics and a good friend.

Tara Meashaw, Customer Service, Advertising and Administration

Leeward Community College, Hawaii, 1991-92.

Tara has worked in the offset printing industry and has a strong background in customer service and administration.  Tara is an integral part of the office management team and is in charge of customer database applications, digital printing, and advertising.  Tara is a live-wire.  She makes the company a fun place to work and makes sure no-one takes themselves too seriously.

Nate Johnson, Operations Manager

Old Colony Vocational High School, 1998.  Nate started out at FFR as a fiberglass panel trimmer.  He is now in charge of all composite molding.  He manages outside suppliers, runs the molding group and manages all paint and powder coatings.  Nate has integrated RTM molding technology, CNC fabric cutting and robot trimming operations and enjoys the credit for bringing FFR molded parts up to world class quality.  Nate has built, owns and drives his own FFR Roadster.  Nate left the family tradition of cranberry farming to work with FFR.  He is the funniest guy on earth and someone you are honored to call your friend. 

Sandra DeBurgo,  Finance and Customer Service

Johnson and Wales University, Assoc. Management 1986.  Sandra is a veteran at FFR with experience in every administrative area.  Sandra works in the finance and customer service areas.  She spends each day working with customers, making sure payments are received and orders are correctly logged into our system. 

Colby Whipple, R&D Mechanical Engineer

2000 Design and Mechanical Engineering, New England Tech.  Colby is an important part of the engineering team with primary responsibilities on the roadster product line.  Colby did most of the engineering development on the FFR MkIII roadster project and helped develop the 4.6 capable roadster kit.

Mike Pisani, R&D Mechanical Engineer

2003, B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Northeastern Univ.  Mike is an important member of our engineering team, currently working to support R&D with primary duties on the GTM project.  Mike is our resident SolidWorks CAD expert, he also serves direct support for sales events, races and technical support. 

Mike is sincere about helping others build their cars and he is an excellent hands-on engineer but he is not a very good rock climber.