Argonne Engineer Lauded for Contributions to National Automotive Research Efforts

Pat Flaherty, Executive Director of the U.S. Council for Automotive Research, presents an award citing Walter Podolski of Argonne's Electrochemical Technology Program for his outstanding contributions to the work of the FreedomCAR Fuel Cell Technical Team.

The United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR) has recognized Argonne National Laboratory's Walter Podolski for his exceptional efforts in supporting the collaborative efforts of USCAR and the FreedomCAR Partnership. Podolski, a chemical engineer, has worked with FreedomCAR's Fuel Cell Technical Team for the past five years, providing analysis and other technical support for a range of projects dealing with the development of fuel cells and the hydrogen that will be needed to fuel them.

The Fuel Cell Technical Team is one of several FreedomCAR teams comprising industry and government representatives. Podolski's peers on the team selected him for this award, which was presented December 9, 2003, at the FreedomCAR All-Tech-Team Meeting in Troy, Michigan.

Among the contributions cited in the award were his contributions to the Fuel Cell Power Systems Roadmap update, now nearing completion, and his work on the Hydrogen Storage Technical Team, particularly in team efforts to establish hydrogen storage targets.

The FreedomCAR Partnership focuses government support on fundamental, high-risk research that applies to multiple passenger-vehicle models and emphasizes the development of fuel cells and hydrogen infrastructure technologies. USCAR is the umbrella organization of DaimlerChrysler, Ford, and General Motors, formed in 1992 to further strengthen the technology base of the domestic auto industry through cooperative, pre-competitive research.

Argonne's transportation-related work on the development of fuel cells and advanced lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries, and fuel cell and battery analysis and evaluation is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's FreedomCAR and Hydrogen Fuel Initiative.