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Monday, March 1, 2010
DfSS Applied to Automotive Fuel Cell Systems
Chris Gearhart
Abstract
The past decade has seen significant technical advances in automotive fuel cell propulsion
systems. The major technical hurdles of cold weather operation, reliability, and range
have largely been solved. The current hurdles to commercialization are cost of the system
and availability of fueling infrastructure. In this presentation we provide an overview of
a project currently underway to reduce the cost of fuel cell systems while robustly meeting
the technical targets. This project is using DFSS for concept selection, requirements
development, and robust design.
Speaker Bio
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Dr. Chris Gearhart received his Ph.D. in physics from Washington University in St. Louis in
1994. After graduation he spent 2 years doing solid state research for the NRC before
joining Ford Motor Company in 1996. After joining Ford he spent 2 years working as a CAE
analyst in product development, before joining the Ford Research Lab in 1998. From 1998 to
2001 he worked in safety optimization, and was then selected for one of the early Six Sigma
Black Belt training waves. He went on to become a Master Black Belt and Six Sigma Deployment
Director for the research lab. As Deployment Director he rolled out DFSS in the lab,
worked to integrate DFSS into the Global Technology Development System, and developed and
training course that integrated DFSS and DMAIC training for engineers working in technology
development. In 2006 he adapted this training for Volvo Car Corporation and spent most of
the year teaching in Gothenburg. Since returning from Sweden, he has been leading the fuel
cell system team in the application of DFSS on the development of automotive fuel cell
system concepts.
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