Innovation with impact 

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Cummins Inc. announced the 2024 recipients of the company’s most prestigious technical award, the Julius Perr Innovation Award. Now in its 24th year, the award recognizes employees who demonstrated excellence in innovation and technology by developing significant intellectual property for our products.

This year’s recipients are Jim L. Alonzo, Mihai Chiruta, Roy W. Detra, David L. Dunnuck, Lindsey R. Henry, Jerry Liu, Achuth Munnannur, Glaucio G. De Oliveira, Niklas M. Schmidt, and Jacob W. Smith.

The first winning patents relate to multi-stage, multi-vane mixing in our engine aftertreatment systems. Alonzo, Chiruta, Detra, Dunnuck, Henry, Liu, Munnannur, and Schmidt developed technology that ultimately displaced the use of third-party mixing devices in our products while delivering a 99% effectiveness in resolving field issues. This invention, protected through a series of multiple patents, relies on a multi-stage, multi-vane mixer design utilizing technical concepts such as asymmetric swirl, Venturi, and virtual interception, in combination with highly optimized placement of the mixing devices with respect to aftertreatment reductant injection, engine exhaust flow, and selective catalytic reduction system.

The second winning technology, developed by Smith and De Oliveira, invented a method of protecting against arc-flash in a genset. This safety-driven feature enters an enhanced arc flash protection mode upon the detection of a person in proximity to the unit. The invention is included in our AMPSENTRY™ genset controls, used on most large gensets manufactured by Cummins today. This innovation was instrumental in providing an industry-leading solution to increasingly stringent electrical standards starting in 2014.

This award was created to honor Dr. Julius Perr, who retired from Cummins in 1997 as Vice President – Fuel Systems. Dr. Perr, who died in 2005, joined Cummins in 1958 after fleeing Communist Hungary. He made Columbus, Indiana (USA) home and began a 41-year career as a Cummins engineer and leader. In his lifetime, he was named the inventor or co-inventor of 186 granted patents and remains an inspiration to many in our industry.

The Dr. Julius Perr Innovation Awards Ceremony was held on May 6th and featured Jon Wood and other leaders. Special guests included members of the Perr Family and the review committee.

A selection committee, comprising leaders from across all business units, meets yearly to evaluate patents that have created significant value for our products. In 2024, over 1100 patents were reviewed for consideration before selecting the final patent award recipients. Since 2000, only 86 patents have been selected for this prestigious award, with each invention adding value to our brand promise of innovation and dependability.