Trustee Trudy Harper. Photo by Kendyl Seals
A nine-month internal investigation into a Tech research project for Fitzgerald Glider Kits found it to be “methodologically sound” but certain conclusions were inaccurate, according to a letter released by Trustee Trudy Harper.
Specifically, investigators determined the statement “Our research showed that optimized and remanufactured 2002-2007 engines and OEM ‘certified’ engines performed equally as well and in some instances outperformed OEM engines,” according to Harper’s letter.
Harper, who was appointed to oversee the investigation, outlined the investigation results in identical letters sent to Tommy Fitzgerald, Congressman Diane Black and the acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The inaccurate statement was sent in a letter by Tech representatives to Congressman Diane Black on June 15, 2017.
The internal investigation found the statement was inaccurate in two respect: field-testing procedures were insufficient to justify comparisons and the data provided does not support the statement.
The university's review of the research also concluded that the research itself was “methodologically sound” and was used appropriately for the project’s original intent.
“The intent of the subject research was to conduct relative comparisons of emission from OEM engines and engines remanufactured with sponsoring company glider kits. These test were intended only to established a baseline comparison of the two groups of engines,” according to Harper’s letter.
