Eric Hargett, Zachary Scotto, Idris Shaikh

Eric Hargett

Eric started working in the performance industry in 1997 as a performance Technician and  started tuning in 1999. Since then, Eric has accomplished a lot in his career both tuning and assisting winning race cars and crazy street cars. 

Eric has worked with a number of performance shops in the Central Ohio area as a Tuner and client consultant.  He has worked with all types of vehicles: Street, Strip, Rally, Road Race, and Drift. He loves his Road Race cars! Thats's why he is Empire Tech Ohio’s suspension setup guy as well.

Not only is Eric a great tuner, but he has also worked for dealerships were he was a Factory trained Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley and Porsche Technician. 

Eric is highly skilled in tuning pretty much every management system available to date. Take your pick of a system or vehicle, and he probably has experience with them, even motorcycles, quads and side-by-sides.

He came to Empire Tech Ohio in March of 2023 as our lead tuner but in addition he adds a lot of technical expertise to our team when it comes to performing mechanical and custom modifications.

Zachary "Z-roc" Scotto

Growing up in Rochester, NY, Zachary’s passion for motorsports and vehicles started early on when he would go with his dad to the drag strip on weekends. This exposure to racing and highly modified cars sparked an intense passion in Zachary to pursue modifying, building, and repairing vehicles. 

This carried on when Zac moved to Tampa, Florida, where he went to Gaither High School and graduated in 2015. In high school, Zac enrolled in the auto shop class, where the instructor Joe Mendola gave Zac many opportunities to work on race cars and other projects that were conducive to Zachary’s passion for modifying cars and repairing them. As a senior at Gaither HS, Zac was awarded the “Top Tech” award from his auto shop instructor. 

While living in Tampa, Zachary spent many hours in a hot garage working on his first 1984 Camaro Z28 with his dad, learning many of the fundamentals about building and modifying cars such as welding, wiring, engine building, and suspension building. 

When Zachary moved to Athens, Ohio to attend Ohio University, his passion for modifying and repairing vehicles persisted.  Here in Ohio, Zac acquired his 1985 Camaro Iroc-Z, lovingly dubbed “Dragroc”. This vehicle has been modified to the point that Zachary has been racing with it for two years. Check out our racing program page to see “Dragroc.” 

At Empire Tech Ohio, Zachary specializes in custom motorsports wiring, EFI installations, and forced induction setups.

Idris "Big D" Shaikh

Idris, “Big D” Shaikh is an Athens, OH native. He worked from an early age at his family’s business, Ali Babas.  As a young person, Idris worked along side his father, Nisar Shaikh. It was Idris’ father who introduced the love of mechanical work into his life. Nisar Shaikh was a brilliant tech when repairing machines and vehicles. He had a vast knowledge gained while working at Boeing on crude oil pump systems and he was also a teacher at the Cummins Institute in London. In addition, while living in his home country of Pakistan, Nisar ran a machine shop that included British vehicle restoration.  His father’s experience  and shared knowledge inspired Idris to start on the path to establishing Empire Tech Ohio.

Idris began buying vehicles and machines from various sources: Bulletin Board, Craigslist, and Marketplace. He started buying, selling, and repairing more intricate vehicles in his small 2-bay garage on Liars Corner Road.  He moved from general maintenance to Performance and Racing.  Empire Tech Ohio has evolved over the years while always retaining excellent work and quality as its fundamental core.

Idris worked at Advanced Auto Parts for 5 years while growing his own business.  It had a few name changes. It started with the name EZ Diesel Automotive, transformed into Trap Speed and grew into Empire Tech Ohio. In 2021, an opportunity to move into the 4 Grand Park Blvd location appeared and Idris established Empire Tech Ohio in its current location in the center of Athens Ohio.  

Aided by his right hand man, Zac “Z-roc” Scotto and others, Empire has grown into a well known name in local Automotive Tech and racing fields.  Idris’s focus on growth, improvement, and innovation is constant.