About Powergrid, Inc.

The president of Powergrid is Charles F. "Chip" Minich, Jr. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Temple University. A few of the notable corporate titles that he has held in his 25 year career in the automotive industry are Vice President of Engineering and Manager of Chassis and Suspension Engineering. His achievements range from product design, development, and testing, to international auto show concept-car construction. He has been associated with many professional racing organizations from NHRA to F1.

Chip and his 2 brothers, Ray and Mark, started MBE (Minich Brothers Engineering) in Abington, PA in 1978. MBE provided fabrication and engine builds for the growing drag racing and Pro Street cars in the area. Roll cages, back-halfed cars, narrowed rears, aluminum interiors and engine swaps were the daily menu. Working for themselves enabled the 3 brothers to self-fund their college educations.

Upon graduation, MBE closed its doors allowing the brothers to go off into their education disciplines.

Chip was recruited by CJ Batten at Batten Performance. His 2 years at Batten exposed him to APBA Offshore, BB/FC, Pro Stock, and Top Sportsman Racing. He helped develop the Batten B4 engine: a 4 valve per cylinder, dual overhead cam competition engine.

From there, he moved to Roush Industries. At his 13 years at Roush, he worked in powertrain development. Some highlights were:

  • The EFI Calibration on Stormin' Norman Gray's 5.0L Shoot-Out Convertible Mustang driven by the late Steve Grebeck
  • Chief Design, Development, and Calibration Engineer on the powertrain for Ford SVE's Boss 604
  • Chief Design and Development Engineer on the powertrain for Dodge's 1999 NAIAS Charger R/T Concept Car, supercharged on Natural Gas
  • Countless F1, NASCAR, SCCA, APBA, NHRA, and SCORE powertrain projects

In 1999, Roush moved Chip from powertrain to Manager of Chassis and Suspension Engineering. Some highlights were:

  • Chief Engineer for Chassis and Suspension for the 2001 Roush Stage III Mustang
  • Program Manager for powertrain and chassis/suspension on the 2002 NAIAS Ford GT-40 Concept Car

Personally, Chip has raced and crewed for many drag racing teams and friends including Steve Grebeck, Bernie & Brian Golick, John Meaney, Mike Moran, and Dave Lyall.

In 2001, Chip went oval track racing for the first time as the crew chief for John Nece running in the ARTS Truck Series. With one race to go and a possible championship, 9-11 occurred and the series cancelled the final race which was to be held across the border in Canada.

While working on the Roush Stage III Mustang and Racing with John Nece is where his understanding of using the sway bar as a tuning tool was recognized.

In 2003, Chip incorporated as Powergrid to design, develop, and manufacture many of the forthcoming problem-solving products to be offered.