WVU's Thiruvengadam ranks number two on Motor Trend's annual Power List

Arvind Thiruvengadam

Arvind Thiruvengadam, a member of the West Virginia University team of researchers who discovered elevated levels of emissions from Volkswagen vehicles, has been named number two on Motor Trend's annual Power List.

Thiruvengadam, a research assistant professor in the  Statler College of Engineering  and a member of the  Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions , was chosen for what  Motor Trend  says is work that could "very likely change the way governments test vehicle emissions in the future."

The publication says the top 10 people on the list are "those who, in terms of their particular area of expertise, have had the most impact on the industry over the past 12 months."

The research team from CAFEE, which includes Thiruvengadam, Dan Carder, interim director of the center;  Greg Thompson, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering; Marc Besch, research assistant for CAFEE; and Hemanth Kappana, who received his Ph.D. from WVU and now works in private industry, found that nitrogen oxide emissions - one of the top six common air pollutants - from two Volkswagen light-duty diesel engines exceeded EPA emissions standards by a factor of 15 to 35 and a factor of 5 to 20.

Others named to the Power List top 10 are the president of Subaru of America, the chief executive of Mercedes-AMG, the chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board and the co-founder of Google.

The broader list of 49 includes the CEO of General Motors, the President and CEO of Toyota, the CEO of Ford Motor Company, the CEO of Tesla, the comedian Jay Leno and the chief engineer of Chevrolet Corvette.

CAFEE has been a leader in emissions research for 25 years, providing research and development of technologies that will improve efficiency in transportation.

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