Cummins Inc. has honored 14 employees with its highest technical award, the Julius Perr Innovation Award.
The award is given annually to scientists and engineers for their contributions that made significant technological advances to benefit the company. The recipients are those who developed critical solutions to reduce diesel emissions for challenging engine duty cycles.
The award winners are:
Linsong Guo, Tim Frazier and Morgan Andreae for thermal management of diesel particulate filters. They developed variable geometry turbocharger and fuel injection strategies to control aftertreatment temperatures while optimizing fuel consumption and avoiding deleterious engine conditions. The technology has been applied to a variety of engine platforms.
Jennifer Rumsey and Tom Dollmeyer for controlling diesel engine exhaust temperatures. They developed a balanced approach that maintains turbocharger temperatures within acceptable limits while meeting engine and emissions requirements. They used an inverted virtual sensor technology to predict the appropriate inputs to the system to achieve the desired outcome while improving diesel fuel economy and reliability. The technique of inverting multiple combined models to determine optimal control parameters is a method in use in Cummins’ controls for a variety of systems.
Dan Baker, Steve Bellinger, Melissa Dye, John Mulloy, Pat Shook, Joan Wills and Steve Wills for contributions to develop robust and effective diesel particulate filter regeneration strategies. They developed the ability to sense the appropriate times and temperatures to effectively clean particulate filters by raising exhaust by using advanced sensor and controls technologies. This technology improved diesel fuel economy while assuring that the optimum particulate filter cleaning was obtained at the proper time.
Conrad Simon and Tom Yonushonis for prevention of carbon deposits on aftertreatment. Carbon deposits from partially-cracked hydrocarbons and soot can build up on the front surfaces of catalysts in diesel exhaust, which is referred to as “face-plugging.” Simon and Yonushonis were honored for developing a novel inlet surface coating that aided in the deposits’ removal at low temperature exhaust conditions. The technology is used in Cummins engines in North America and Europe, and Cummins Emission Solutions supplies this technology to customers who produce their own engines.
The projects are all protected by U.S. patents and in some cases, foreign patents.
“These inventors and their novel ways of approaching and solving problems have added to the Cummins legacy of innovation and technology leadership, said Rich Freeland, Cummins president and chief operating officer. “Our ability to identify the right technologies to meet future challenges will continue to set us apart from the competition.”
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The Dr. Julius P. Perr Innovation Award was created to honor Perr, who retired from Cummins in 1997 as vice president — fuel systems. Perr, who died in 2005, joined Cummins in 1958 after fleeing Communist Hungary. He was named as the inventor or co-inventor of 80 U.S. patents.
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