Plenary Speakers

 Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Steiger

 Position

 Director Future Technologies

 Institution

 Volkswagen Group

 Branche

 Automotive

 Origin

 Germany

Particulars

Wolfgang Steiger is the Director Future Technologies within the External Relations department for the Volkswagen Group. His skills are in powertrain development and design. During his career he was involved with Robert Bosch GmbH, Battelle Institute and Adam Opel AG finally there being responsible for diesel engine development and test. In 1997, he joined the Volkswagen AG group research department. Until December 2008, for more than eleven years, he was responsible for powertrain research, including diesel and gasoline engines, transmissions, hybrids, batteries, fuel cells, engine electronics and fuels. He published more than 100 papers, presentations and lectures in several universities, including in China. Wolfgang Steiger is engaged in several European organizations:
- Chairman of the European Road Transport Research Advisory Council ERTRAC
- Chairman of the European Green Car Initiative EGCI Advisory Group of the European Commission
- Steering team member of the Energy Science Center ETH Zürich.
Wolfgang Steiger graduated from the Technical University Darmstadt with a degree in mechanical engineering and holds a PhD (Dr.-Ing.) from the same university. In 2008, he has appointed as Professor to the University Coburg, Germany. In 2005, Wolfgang Steiger was rewarded with the “Prof. Ferdinand Porsche Prize”

Lecture

The Path to A Post Fossil Fuel Era

The earth’s energy demand is constantly increasing. Separating the economic development from the energy demand does not seem possible. At the same time, the effort to exploit useful energy sources, especially fossil fuels and renewable sources, is growing. As a result, the price basis of a certain energy source is not solely determined by its quantity, but also by the effort required to produce and distribute it. This leads to certain basic guidelines:
- The increase in energy efficiency of all processes is in fact the most economically feasible energy source.
- A diversification of energy sources minimises risk and political dependency.
- Only a rapid decoupling of the economic development from fossil fuels ensures social advancement.
Therefore, not only political legislation, but also economic necessity are forcing the development of more efficient systems and the use of renewable energy sources.
Particularly in the transport sector this transition requires an enormous effort and partially a change in mindset regarding the use of different modes of transportation. Car owners that nowadays cover 80 % of their travelling using their own vehicles will in future be part of a more complex mobility network. This network will consist of several modes of transport, such as bicycles, small vehicles, cars, mass transportation systems and services, such as leasing or sharing, which will enable a more efficient transportation system as a whole, while at the same time reducing CO2 emissions and minimising local pollution and traffic noise.

 Dr. Karim Mokaddem

 Position

 Hybrid Air Project Executive
 Manager and President of
 Technoboost

 Institution

 PSA Peugeout Citroen

 Branche

 Automotive

 Origin

 France

Particulars

Lecture

Hybrid air: A disruptive technology and an entrepreneurial innovation model within PSA Peugeot Citroen

Increasingly ambitious standards are being set worldwide to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses and pollutants (NOx and particulates), with targets of 95 g of CO₂ per km in Europe and 117 g per km in China by 2020. Full-Hybrid vehicles will be a necessary part of the equation to meet the 2020 CAFE targets. Hybrid Air is a new type of full-hybrid powertrain that combines a petrol engine and compressed air for energy storage instead of a battery, offering an alternative to electric hybrid solutions. Hybrid Air reinforces PSA Peugeot Citroën as a European leader in the CO₂ emissions (122,5 g/km in 2002), with an affordable core model offering that delivers lower fuel consumption and ease of use. With the Hybrid Air PSA Peugeot Citroën took the opportunity to test a new method for managing innovation aligned with the needs of a high-stakes project and the ambition to deliver something rare, valuable and difficult to imitate. This new model includes seven key points that will be presented during the conference. With Hybrid Air PSA Peugeot Citroen has experienced an entrepreneurial innovation business model including the financial partnership with France’s Investments in the Future program.

 Prof. Huayong Yang

 Position

 Professor and director of the State Key Laboratory for Fluid Power Transmission and Control

 Institution

 Zhejiang University

 Branche

 Fluid Power

 Origin

 China

Particulars

Mr. Huayong Yang is the Cheung Kong Chair Professor of Zhejiang University and the director of National Engineering Research Center of Electrohydraulic Control since 2000. He is a Fellow of the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society and a member of China Academy of Engineering. He is again the director of the State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power Transmission and Control at Zhejiang University since March 2014, and he was the director of the laboratory previously in 1997 to 2001. He is also an active expert for fluid power related industries and various government agencies in China.
He received his B.Sc. from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China in 1982 and his Ph.D. degree from University of Bath, United Kingdom in 1988.  He is a prolific researcher with 129 patents, (co)authored 3 academic books and over 240 technical papers published in international journals and conferences.  He is active in major international conferences related to both fluid power and Mechatronics. He has been a member in the Technical/Program Committee of international conferences such as 2011 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics and also the IPC co-chair of 2013 IFAC Symposium on Mechatronic Systems.
His research interests are in motion control and energy saving of mechatronic systems, fluid power component and system development.
 

Lecture

Recent Research Activities in China

As China is still in the process of industrial revolution as well as urbanization, the demand from industry for fluid power up to date components and systems have been ever increasing during in the past 30 years.  The short term economic fluctuation would not change the long term development trend of fluid power industry in China. Analysis of data from different industrial sectors for fluid power in recent years will be presented first, then a brief introduction will be given to recent research and development activities in the Chinese university community.  The focus of attention for undergoing projects and research areas is similar to the rest of the world, that is to increase functionalities in terms of high pressure and high speed, to reduce the noise and contamination level and to improve the efficiency of energy usage and quality of products.

 Prof. Kim A. Stelson

 Position

 Director of Research Center for
 Compact and Efficient Fluid Power

 Institution

 University of Minnesota, Department
 of Mechanical Engineering

 Branche

 Fluid Power

 Origin

 Minnesota, USA

Particulars

Kim A. Stelson is Director of the NSF-funded Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power. He is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota where he has been since 1981. He received his B.S. from Stanford University in 1974 and his S.M. and Sc.D. from M.I.T. in 1977 and 1982. Stelson has twice been awarded the Rudolf Kalman Best Paper Award of the ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Lecture

Fluid Power Research in the U.S.A

Since it’s creation seven years ago, the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP) has led a renaissance academic fluid power research in the United States. The CCEFP is a network of seven universities and more than fifty companies organized into three thrusts: efficiency, compactness and effectiveness. CCEFP fluid power research is demonstrated on six test beds spanning a range of six orders-of-magnitude of power and weight: precision pneumatics for MRI guided surgery, orthosis, patient mover, passenger car, excavator and wind power generator. Several developments with high commercialization potential will be presented along with examples of industry-university collaboration.