Consumer Reports Names Jake Fisher As Head Of Auto Testing

Jennifer Stockburger named Director of Operations, Consumer Reports Auto Test Center

YONKERS, N.Y., Oct. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Reports has promoted one of its senior engineers, Jake Fisher, to run all the vehicle testing operations at its national Auto Test Center in Connecticut. As director of auto testing, Mr. Fisher will oversee the team of personnel who evaluate and rate some 80 cars and trucks annually for the organization. He has worked for Consumer Reports since 1999.

Concurrent with Mr. Fisher's promotion, Consumer Reports also tapped another of its staffers, Jennifer Stockburger, to become the Director of Operations at the Auto Test Center in Colchester, Connecticut, about 45 minutes outside Hartford. Ms. Stockburger will handle the day-to-day running of the center as well as being responsible for Consumer Reports' child car seat and tire test operations.

"We are fortunate to have engineers like Jake and Jennifer who will work tirelessly to help consumers make smart car-buying choices and help improve safety on the nation's roadways," said Liam McCormack, Vice President and Technical Director, Consumer Reports.  

Consumer Reports' former director of automotive testing, David Champion, left the organization in August to pursue other opportunities.

Consumer Reports' Auto Test Center is the largest independent automobile testing center in the world. The 327-acre facility is equipped with a 1.2-mile vehicle handling circuit, a three-acre vehicle dynamics area, two skid pads, a 1.5-mile ride evaluation course, offices, workshops, headlight test building, photo studio, maintenance facilities and more. The organization buys and tests roughly 80 cars and light trucks a year. Results of those tests are published in Consumer Reports magazine, online at www.ConsumerReports.org, and in a series of special interest automotive publications.

Over the last 13 years, Mr. Fisher has been instrumental in all areas of vehicle testing as well as vehicle reliability analysis. His passion for cars and his expert driving is displayed in many online videos, a program that he pioneered. He will now oversee a team of dedicated automotive engineers, statisticians and support staff.

Before coming to Consumer Reports, Mr. Fisher worked for General Motors as a development engineer, working primarily on the Cadillac and Saturn brands. He holds two degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and a master's degree in business administration. He has built two racecars for use in his spare time, a Toyota MR2 for use on road courses and a Nissan 240SX for drifting.

Ms. Stockburger joined Consumer Reports in 2000 after working at the Walbro Corporation, a major supplier of fuel delivery systems as an engineer. Prior to that, she had worked at Pirelli Armstrong Tire Corporation as a test engineer, responsible for a variety of tire evaluations including ride and handling. She holds a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Connecticut at Storrs and has been a certified child passenger safety technician since 2001.

Consumer Reports is the world's largest independent product-testing organization. Using its more than 50 labs, auto test center, and survey research center, the nonprofit rates thousands of products and services annually. Founded in 1936, Consumer Reports has over 8 million subscribers to its magazine, website and other publications.  Its advocacy division, Consumers Union, works for health reform, product safety, financial reform, and other consumer issues in Washington, D.C., the states, and in the marketplace.

NOVEMBER 2012

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SOURCE Consumer Reports