Howard C. Marmon worked as an associate with his father in a flour mill machinery business that was eventually absorbed in the auto industry. He became vice president in charge of engineering at the Marmon Motor Company in 1902. He designed the Marmon automobile as well as the 1911 Indianapolis Race winning Marmon “Wasp”. He also invented the duplex down draft manifold and pioneered in the use of weight saving aluminum in V-16 engines. Marmon served as president of the Society of Automobile Engineers during the years 1913-1914, and in 1931 was awarded a medal for the outstanding automotive design of the year, the Marmon Sixteen. He developed the Liberty engine during World War I and was selected as the only American honorary member of the British Society of Automotive Engineers.