April has been a bit of a whirlwind month for Engine Builder magazine and for me in particular. To start, my wife Kelly and I welcomed our first child into the world on March 20th – a boy we named Liam. We are absolutely head over heels in love and spend every waking minute trying to do good by him. And trust me, my wife and I are very awake these days. 

I took the rest of the month of March off from work to spend time with family, returning to the office on April 1. I was quickly made aware that the day wouldn’t be business as usual. No, it wasn’t anything to do with April Fools, but something was brewing, and I was soon brought up to speed.

Babcox Media awarded several people with internal promotions and new opportunities – two of which involved Doug Kaufman and myself. Doug accepted a new role at Babcox as the Editorial Director of our Tech Group of magazines, which include Brake & Front End, Import Car and Underhood Service. 

With Doug leaving Engine Builder, the position of Title Editor was mine if I agreed to take the job. I’ve been managing editor for five years now, and in the last few years I’ve often imagined what it would be like to be in control of this great magazine. I of course agreed to the promotion instantly.

Now, I need to give an enormous thank you to Doug as he has been a terrific ambassador of the engine building/rebuilding industry and has kept Engine Builder magazine at the forefront for nearly two decades! He has also become a good friend of mine as well as a great boss and mentor to me. I can’t thank him enough for the knowledge he’s passed down and the opportunities I’ve been given since coming to work for him in 2014. 

I don’t have to tell you all that Doug is a great guy. I wish him the best of luck in his new role, and don’t fret – you can all still reach Doug at his usual contact info.

Doug, of course, represented a great deal of stability and longevity in his position as editor of Engine Builder, but give me some credit. I’ve been here five years, which for a millennial is close to retirement age! Kidding of course. But in all seriousness, I wouldn’t trade my last five years for any other spot within Babcox. I love writing about the people, the technology, the parts, the machines and the engines that make up this great industry. 

Will I do things differently than Doug may have? Yes. However, I have every intent in maintaining this magazine’s credibility within the industry by continuing to deliver excellent content for engine builders, machinists, manufacturers and other industry folks. But there will be change, and it will be for the better. After all, what would this industry be if it didn’t change and adapt to new technology, new performance goals and better machining processes? 

As always, if you have ideas and topics you want to see within these pages, please reach out and let’s have a chat. Here’s to a fresh start for all of us at Engine Builder. ν