Date and Time:
Friday, October 12, 2018 - 12:15pmSpeaker:
H. Felix Wu, Ph.D., F.SPIEAffiliation:
Supervisory Program Manager Vehicle Technologies Office, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable EnergyAbstract:
Last year, vehicles transported 11 billion tons of freight, more than $32 billion worth of goods each day, and moved people more than 3 trillion vehicle-miles. The U.S. Department of Energy's Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) provides low cost, secure, and clean energy technologies to move people and goods across America. VTO supports research, development, and deployment of efficient and sustainable highway transportation technologies that will improve fuel economy and enable America to use less petroleum. These technologies, include plug-in electric vehicles (also known as PEVs or electric cars), batteries and electrification, advanced combustion engines, lightweight and propulsion materials, and alternative fuels, will increase Americans’ mobility and energy security, while lowering costs and reducing environmental impacts. VTO collaborates with industry, academia, and national laboratories to develop advanced transportation technologies to improve energy efficiency, increase domestic energy security, reduce operating cost for consumers & business, and improve global competitiveness of U.S. economy. These advanced transportation technologies can significantly lead to fuel economy improvements and replace oil with domestic fuels, setting the foundation for clean, efficient, sustainable, and cost-competitive vehicles.Biography:
Dr. H. Felix Wu holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University and a M.S. from Northwestern University. He has more than 18 years of program management and leadership experience working for the Federal government, industry, and academia with broad-based expertise in advanced materials, fiber-reinforced composites, manufacturing, nano-materials/structures, smart structures/NDE, civil infrastructure, and biomaterials/biomedical devices. He joined the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as a Supervisory Program Manager in January 2016. Currently, he oversees the Materials Technology R&D Program including Lightweight Materials and Propulsion Materials, targeting the EERE’s mission to improve fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. Dr. Wu is also a Federal Executive Advisor for the DOE’s Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI).
In 1997-2012, Dr. Wu was a Senior Program Manager in the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) where he managed numerous ATP-funded high-risk, high-payoff projects working with various industries including automotive, offshore oil production, civil infrastructure, nanotechnology, polymers, metals, ceramics, and biological sciences.
Prior to his government career, Dr. Wu worked in industry for over 14 years including positions of a Senior Project Manager at the Alcoa Technical Center where he was the leader in the R&D of a new family of fiber-metal laminates (ARALL and GLARE) and a Senior Project Leader at the Owens Corning Science & Technology Center where he led fundamental & applied research programs.
Dr. Wu was an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University and was the Senior Director in the Office of Research and Economic Development at the University of North Texas.
Dr. Wu has published more than 200 papers in scientific journals, technical conferences, and technical reports. He was the recipient of the Hans-Juergen Schmidt Award of the 7th International Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring in recognition of his outstanding leadership and efforts in advancing structural health monitoring technologies in industry and government. He is a Fellow of the SPIE (Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers), a U.S. Department of Commerce Science and Technology Fellow, and a Fellow of the Ohio Academy of Science.