Baylor Professor Educates Millions About Renewable Fuels

WACO, Texas - Harmon trophy winner and Baylor University professor Dr. Max Shauck has entertained and educated more than three million people in 1995 with his airshow performances and his efforts to inform the public about the potential of renewable aviation fuels and the environmental, economic and national security reasons for their use.
Shauck, chairman of Baylor's Department of Aviation Sciences, became the first person to fly on the renewable, clean burning, oxygenated fuel, ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) at the prestigious Paris Airshow in France-where from June 11-18, he flew 11 times in his Pitts Special S-2B biplane.
"Given the fact that the United States now imports 52 percent of its petroleum and that the lead must be removed from aviation gasoline in the next few years, the arguments in favor of ethanol are very strong," Shauck said. "For instance, this expansion of the ethanol market will create domestic jobs, decrease our dependence on imported oil and reduce the balance of trade deficit."
During 1995, Shauck performed at the EAA Fly-In at Oshkosh, Wis. and traveled with his wife, Grazia Zanin, to eight other airshows and/or expositions throughout the country as part of their educational campaign.
Shauck also hosted the "First International Conference on Alternative Aviation Fuels" Nov. 2-4 in which more than 120 people from three continents came together on Baylor's campus to discuss the future of alternative fuels in aviation.
During the conference, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Federal Aviation Administration, Baylor and Texas State Technical College-Waco, Shauck presented his work at the Renewable Aviation Fuels Development Center which promotes the use of renewable fuels such as ethanol.
For more information on ethanol, ETBE or the use of renewable fuels in aviation, contact the Baylor Department of Aviation Sciences at (817) 755-3563.