Motiv Engines, a fledgling Reno-based company with plans to develop small, energy-efficient engines for a wide range of commercial uses, has signed an exclusive licensing agreement to develop a compact engine using technology invented by Caterpillar.
Ed O'Malley, 31-year-old chief executive officer of Motiv Engines, founded the company in July after inking an agreement to develop a compact compression ignition engine with the National Institute for Strategic Technology Acquisition and Commercialization, the intellectual property arm of Kansas State University.
O'Malley says the engines can be built to run on diesel or gasoline, as well as alternative fuels, are six times smaller than comparable engines, and run 30 percent more efficiently.
"There are lots of different solutions around for cars that emit fewer emissions and work on renewable fuels, but there aren't many that work on today's fuels and in the future, 100 percent renewable fuels with zero carbon emissions," he says. "If we can build a prototype that demonstrates that all these capabilities are true, we can build engines that will have a major role to play in reducing our dependence on foreign oil, the cost of transportation and emitting pollutants into the air."
O'Malley says conceptual work on the engine is being done by John Clark, inventor of the compact compression engine and a former senior research engineer with Caterpillar who works as Motiv's chief technology officer. Engine prototypes will be built and assembled by independent contractors in Los Angeles.
O'Malley, a former aerospace engineer who contracted with NASA to work on the International Space Station, says he hopes to work with a major vehicle manufacturer within the next few years after proving the engine's capabilities.
Motiv's initial development focus is on the marine industry and hybrid vehicles, as well as aviation industry and tactical military vehicles.
