It is a serene location with a glorious saline surface, a place where ingenuity and imagination confront the laws of nature. Located just a few miles off I-80 near the Utah and Nevada border, the Bonneville Salt Flats are the world's foremost venue for land speed racing. Since the early 1970s, the Burkland family from Great Falls has been a part of Bonneville's history. After setting several national records, Tom Burkland, who received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Montana State University in 1982, is now vying to set an FIA World Record (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) with a race car he campaigns with his parents, Gene and Betty.

"Virtually everything I learned in my undergraduate engineering program is included in that car in some way or another," Tom explained recently. "This is a very technical project from the standpoint of the aerodynamic design to some of the thermodynamics that are used in the engine. Including the structural analysis of the chassis, the dynamic modeling of the tires, all the way down to writing proposals to the various manufacturers and component suppliers...I really don't think we could have done it without what I learned in Bozeman."

The Burklands' 24-foot orange streamliner houses two giant V-8 Donovan Hemi engines with superchargers, producing more than 2,000 horsepower each. Placed nose-to-nose in an aircraft steel frame, the two engines in tandem equal a V-16. A custom four-wheel drive system harnesses the power to potentially produce speeds of more than 500 mph. Shrouded in a one-of-a-kind, hand-formed steel body, the entire success of the project is greatly determined by creating the smallest aero footprint as the car slices through the earth's atmosphere.

"Tom is the designer, engineer and driver," said Betty, explaining how their team works. "Gene built the car and is the crew chief. He's quiet but keeps things moving and knows where everything is in the semi. I guess I'm the voice of the team and do all the paperwork and chase parts. And if only Gene and I are around, we work together on the car. I don't weld, but I can hold things. All three of us talk over what to do and how best to do it."

Both father and son have aircraft backgrounds. Gene was a welder for the Air National Guard for 30 years, and Tom employed his MSU engineering degree working on the F-16 program for 18 years at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. Now Gene is retired, and Tom is the chief engineer at Petersen Inc., in Ogden, a high-tech steel fabrication company for the aerospace, energy and mining industries. Even Tom's younger brother, Bill, has the Burkland "aviation gene." In addition to his other degrees, Bill received a civil engineering diploma from MSU in 1997 and now works at Peccia and Associates in Helena, overseeing many of its airport design and planning projects.

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