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Alumni Profile

Craig Henry – Powering the Champions

Craig Henry has a job racecar nuts would die for: He develops racing engines for cars in the American Le Mans Series. On a given race week, Craig may be in the pits, working with drivers and team members on how to make improvements to the engine and electronics package. Then, during the week, he returns of a development facility in Southern California to evaluate potential changes.

Craig began his career in engine development shortly after graduating in 1996 with a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering. While at UT Arlington, he had been a member of the Formula SAE racing team. He joined Honda Performance Development (HPD) in Santa Clarita, California, whose primary business then was to build and service Honda racing engines for the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) series. Also known as Champ Car, the series later merged with the IndyCar Series.

As a trackside engine engineer in the CART and Champ Car series, Craig saw drivers with Honda engines win the championship every year from 1997 through 2001. He worked directly with winning drivers Alex Zanardi in 1998 and Juan Pablo Montoya in 1999.

In 2002, Craig became an engine development engineer for Honda’s CART/Champ Car racing engine. After the 2002 season, Honda left the CART/Champ Car series and partnered with Ilmor Engineering, Ltd. to compete in the Indy Racing League (IRL) IndyCar series. During this time, Craig became a senior engine development engineer for Honda’s Indy racing engine. These engines were so successful that Honda eventually became the sole engine supplier for the IndyCar Series and have powered every racecar at the Indianapolis 500 since 2006.

In 2006, Craig was assigned to work on the development of the Acura LM-V8 racing engine that competes in the American Le Mans Prototype (LMP2) class. LMP cars are intended for sports car-style endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the American Le Mans Series. He continued to advance in that area and is now the manager, principal engineer and Large Project leader for the development of the Acura AR6-V8 3.4L engines.

Craig provided some thoughts about being an alumnus and his remembrances of time at UT Arlington and the College of Engineering.

What do you think it means to be a Maverick and how does it apply to you?
Mavericks tend to be independent thinkers, they show respect for the individual and they are team players. Now, in the automotive racing environment, there tends to be many independent and creative thinkers. However, since the inherent nature of a “typical engineer” is to aggressively-challenge new ideas, many people can feel uncomfortable in this environment. In this case, the Maverick traits of respect and teamwork are values that help round out the engineer in today’s environment.

What do you know about UT Arlington that others may not?
I am not sure if this is still true, but if you face the front of some of the older buildings on campus like Ransom Hall or the old Social Works buildings and look near the top, you can faintly see the original name of the building engraved in the stone. I believe if you look near the top of Ransom Hall, engraved are the words “Administration Building.” (Have you ever looked up?)

What was your most memorable event during your time here?
As time goes by, I find I have only fond memories of UT Arlington. Some of my fondest memories are tied to the educational and character building experiences I shared while working on the UT Arlington Formula SAE projects.

What lessons of life have you learned before or since then?
Understand your purpose. Whether this relates to your life, your job, or even your homework, once you understand your purpose you can focus on your objective.

What do you hope your legacy will be, both personally and professionally?
Good character, perseverance and integrity.