Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) Engines

Fuquan (Frank) Zhao. Dr. Zhao is a Senior Engineering Specialist of Technical Affairs at DaimlerChrysler Corporation and is engaged in many facets of corporate engine research and development activities. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Jilin University of Technology (China) in 1985. He obtained his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hiroshima (Japan) in 1989 and his Ph.D. there in 1992. His previous experience includes Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Wayne State University, Research Fellow at Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine (UK), and Postdoctoral Fellows at Wayne State University and the University of Hiroshima. Dr. Zhao was honored in 1998 as one of the 100 outstanding engineers selected nationally for the U.S. National Academy of Engineering’s “Frontiers of Engineering” Symposium. He was also honored as one of the 30 outstanding engineers selected nationally by the U.S. National Academy of Engineering to attend the 2001 German-American “Frontiers of Engineering” Symposium held in Essen, Germany. He also received several other awards, including the SAE Forest R. McFarland Award in recognition of his leadership in and his dedication to SAE technical activities. He has served as session organizer and chairperson for many international technical conferences. He is currently the vice chair of the SAE Fuels & Lubricants Activity in charge of combustion-related activities. He is the principal author of more than 100 technical publications. He was the leading author of the book Automotive Gasoline Direct-Injection Engines published by SAE International in 2002. He was also a co-editor of the book Direct Fuel Injection for Gasoline Engines published by SAE International in 2000.

Thomas W. Asmus - Dr. Asmus is a Senior Research Executive at DaimlerChrylser Corporation. He is the corporate advisor on powertrain technologies and key corporate technical representative in industry-government joint technical activities. He represents most of the research activities at the Chrysler Group. He has been involved in many facets of engine R&D activities including energy management systems, alternative engines, emissions control, and fuel economy improvement for nearly 30 years. Dr. Asmus is an SAE Fellow and received the 1999 ASME Soichiro Honda Lecture Award, which was established by ASME to recognize individual achievement or outstanding contributions in the field of personal transportation.

Dennis N. Assanis. Professor Assanis received a B.Sc. degree in Marine Engineering from Newcastle University, England; S.M. degrees in Naval Architecture and Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1982); an S.M. degree in Management from MITs Sloan School of Management (1986); and a Ph.D. degree in Power and Propulsion from MIT (1985). His expertise encompasses development of a broad range of modeling methodologies and experimental techniques for studies of fundamental engine processes and automotive systems design integration. Professor Assanis joined the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in the fall of 1994. Since his arrival, he has revitalized the Mechanical Engineering Department's teaching and research efforts in internal combustion engines and transformed the Walter E. Lay Automotive Laboratory into a beehive of research activity. He currently serves as the Director of the Automotive Research Center, the Director of the Walter E. Lay Automotive Laboratory, and the Director of the newly founded Multi-University Consortium on Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition Engine Research. He is also the Co-Director of the General Motors Collaborative Research Laboratory on Engine Systems. He has also served as the Founding Director of the highly successful, interdisciplinary graduate program in Automotive Engineering between 1996 and 2001.

John E. Dec - Dr. John E. Dec is a distinguished member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories. He received his B.S. degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1980 and worked as a design engineer for the Boeing Corporation before beginning his post-graduate studies at the University of Michigan. He conducted his Ph.D. dissertation research at the Combustion Research Facility of Sandia National Laboratories and received his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1988. John then joined the staff at Sandia and has worked at the Combustion Research Facility on engine-combustion research since 1989. As the principal investigator of the Heavy-Duty Diesel Engine Laboratory, he conducted numerous investigations of fuel-air mixing, combustion, and emissions formation processes in diesel engines. Most of these studies have involved the use of laser-based imaging diagnostics and have been directed at improving efficiency and reducing emissions of diesel engines. More recently, John has become interested in HCCI engine combustion and has worked to establish an HCCI research program at the Sandia’s Combustion Research Facility. He has authored or co-authored over 50 technical papers mainly in the areas diesel- and HCCI-engine combustion and emissions, and has received several awards for these papers, including the Horning Memorial Award and two Colwell Merit Awards from SAE. In 1998, John was elected as an SAE Fellow in recognition for his contributions to the field of diesel-engine combustion and to SAE.

James A. Eng - James Eng is a Staff Research Engineer at General Motors Research and Development. Dr. Eng received his Ph.D. from Princeton University working on hydrocarbon emissions and post-flame oxidation mechanisms from homogeneous charge SI engines. During the past 10 years he has worked in the areas of chemical kinetics, understanding the effects of fuels on engine performance and emissions, cold-start hydrocarbon emissions, and HCCI combustion.

Paul M. Najt - Paul Najt is SI Engine Systems Group Manager at General Motors Research and Development. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Paul Najt was one of the first researchers to study gasoline HCCI combustion in four-stroke cycle engines. During his 26-year tenure with General Motors he has worked in the areas of ignition, knock, hydrocarbon emissions, highly dilute flame propagation, SIDI stratified-charge, and HCCI combustion systems.