On-Board Diagnostics Digital Summit-Americas

Bernard J Challen is a Chartered Engineer living in England. He graduated as a Mechanical Engineer and went on to gain a Masters in Noise and Vibration from the Institute of Sound and Vibration (ISVR) within the University of Southampton. He worked in Germany for 2 years and then spent 21 years with Ricardo Consulting Engineers in the UK, starting the engine and vehicle noise and vibration reduction services, working with clients around the world. He took on responsibility for forming and developing the Ricardo Instrumentation and Control Laboratory, developing computer control systems for engines and transmissions.

He was appointed a Ricardo Technical Director responsible for developing NVH technology and applications for client companies and later added electronic controls activities. He was the director responsible for founding and developing the Ricardo North American business operation in 1990.

From 1971 until the present, he has operated a technical consultancy Shoreham Services, providing technical and management support to client companies. His work as an independent consultant for more than 20 years, working with clients internationally, mainly in the powertrain, NVH and quality fields.

He has been actively involved with SAE since the mid 1970s and has written numerous technical papers and helped organise conferences, chairing the Noise & Vibration Conference committee for some years and working as a Powertrain Electronic Controls session organiser at Congress. He is an enthusiastic symposium organiser, working with others to provide Powertrain and OBD offerings, using SAE member and staff resources. He chairs the organising group for the On-Board Diagnostics conference, which is held twice each year, in Europe and in the USA.

He has co-authored more than 30 technical papers and written many magazine articles on engineering topics. He has received three Forest McFarland awards, was elected an SAE Fellow in 1997, and was awarded the SAE 2008 Medal of Honor.

He was appointed a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor in the Principles of Engineering Design at the University of Sussex, England.

He is also active with other professional engineering bodies such as IMechE, IET and IoA, and seeks to promote the quality, visibility and recognition of the engineering profession internationally.

Dr.-Ing. Frank Dorer has studied aero- and astronautics at the Technical University of Munich. His doctor thesis at the same university dealt with combustion modelling of a hydrogen compression ignition engine used as a power supply for cargo vessels. Since 1999 Dr. Dorer is working for Volkswagen AG in the gasoline engine development. Starting with emission calibration Dr. Dorer switched to the scope of OBD, first calibrating of various concept and diagnostics of the Volkswagen Group. Since 2005 he deals with the OBD concept development at Volkswagen for gasoline concepts. Since 2008 Dr. Dorer is the head of the gasoline OBD concept development covering all gasoline related aspects for conventional, HEV and PHEV concepts for all worldwide markets.

Bob has retired after nearly 30 years in the industry. Bob has a BSEE from Lawrence Technological University. Bob was involved in the design and implementation of embedded electronic powertrain control systems, and has been involved in numerous “first in the world starts” of new vehicle powertrain applications. Bob has a United States Patent for his work in misfire detection systems. Bob has also been involved in the development and testing of On Board Diagnostics Systems and publications in the area of OBD Communications techniques. His most recent industry duties included investigation and analysis of OBD communication issues in the field both for I/M and Service in the role of OBD Communication Expert. He is Past Chairman of the SAE E/E Diagnostics Committee and is also Past Chairman of the J1962 Vehicle Diagnostic Connector Task Force. He is co-author of the J1699-2 Test Cases for OBD-II Scan Tools and I/M Test Equipment and author of the J3138 Diagnostic Link Connector Security Recommended Practices. Bob is also a past member of the SAE Executive Standards Committee.

Dr. Yichao Guo is currently the OBD Technical Fellow in Technical Safety and Regulatory Compliance Department of FCA US LLC, a subsidiary of Stellantis NV.  He has accumulated over 10 years of OBD-related working experiences in various suppliers and OEMs, such as OBD algorithm design, calibration, testing, certification, and regulation interpretation. He currently serves in multiple SAE technical committees, various SAE standard committees, and he is also a newly-elected SAE Fellow Grade member.

Farah Hindi is an On-Board Diagnostics Technologist responsible for Global Regulatory Requirements at L&T Technology services. Prior to L&T, Farah has been an OBD Technical Lead at Delphi Technologies for several years, where she was responsible for overseeing the OBD compliance across projects for Heavy Duty Diesel Systems. She led the design teams on the development of the Diagnostics-Manager package used for the European, US and Chinese markets, and was involved in the design and development of the Misfire and Fuel System diagnostics. Farah has a Bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering.

Mark Laleman has 29 + years of experience with Ford Motor Co. in Powertrain Engineering, including 23 years in OBD and manufacturer diagnostics. He’s the OBD Regulations/Standards Technical Expert at Ford, and has been involved in SAE Diagnostics groups for 21 years. Mark is chairperson of the J1979 task force, and is an active member of several SAE task forces (J1930, J2012, J1699). He has extensive experience in implementation of UDS services and also provides global regulatory guidance for Ford.  Mark has B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Justin Owen leads product compliance for emissions and OBD at Cummins Inc. He holds a B.S. Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelly School. Since 2003, he has worked on OBD and emissions/performance at Cummins. Justin led the OBD certification efforts for Cummins’ Euro4.5 products and Production Vehicle Evaluation of Cummins’ 2007 engines for the Dodge Ram product. For Cummins’ 2010 launch, Justin oversaw OBD requirements and certification documentation. After a 9 month stint at Allison Transmission doing diagnostic/systems engineering, Justin returned to lead diagnostic development for Cummins’ 2013 heavy-duty engines, and more recently Cummins’ medium and light duty products worldwide as well. Justin currently serves as Director – Product Compliance & Regulatory Affairs, Cummins Inc.

Marcel Romijn has over 15 years of experience in all aspects of On-Board Diagnostics. Many of the experience comes from projects for the US market, such as PACCAR/DAF Trucks and Delphi Technologies. A variety of consultancy tasks in OBD and functional safety and quality processes followed for automotive and off-highway industries. For a few years, he worked at FEV Europe as the Deputy Department Manager for all Diesel Powertrains OBD & Diagnostics on all markets. In 2018 he founded Roben Automotive – The Netherlands, where he targets OBD, Diagnostics, Functional Safety, and Cyber Security, using his automotive systems knowledge and experience in robust diagnostic design to comply with standards and regulations.

John F. Van Gilder established Van Gilder Engineering in 2021 to support clients with professional consulting services for the development and implementation of on-board diagnostic systems (algorithms and hardware). The company is built on his 35 year career at General Motors, of which the last 30 years were devoted to developing and implementing on-board diagnostic systems for a variety of powertrain components (engines. transmissions, hybrid systems and energy storage systems, etc.). From 1996 to 2021, John served as the global lead development engineer at GM for on-board diagnostics. This included technical negotiations with global regulatory authorities, hardware design reviews for OBD compliance, and development of diagnostic algorithms.

Currently, through Van Gilder Engineering, John provides engineering support for the development, implementation, and verification of OBD systems including assessments of regulatory compliance. This support includes OBD performance (compliance and good design practice) reviews for diagnosed hardware, performance reviews for diagnostic algorithms, and critique of material prepared for CARB OBD regulatory staff review. Also, John supports several classes in OBD through SAE Continuing Education.

John earned a Bachelor of Science (magna cum laude) in Engineering Physics from University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) in 1980, a Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering from Bettis Atomic Laboratory (1982), and a Master of Science in Reliability Engineering from Kettering University (1990). He has authored and co-authored many technical papers, primarily on OBD topics, was issued over 35 patents, and has presented at numerous global SAE symposia.

Wenbo Wang is a Feature Function Engineer for China and European OBD, and a System Architect for Gasoline Engine OBD, employed by General Motors. He started his OBD career with GM in 2000 and has developed many OBD algorithms. Besides OBD, he also has extensive knowledge and experience in engine calibration, engine controls algorithm design & development, and drive quality evaluation & control, etc. Numerous patents have been granted for the creative work. He holds a doctorate degree from Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin, USA. He has been an organizer for the SAE OBD Symposium since 2019.

Andrew Zettel is currently responsible for Electrification Regulatory Requirements at General Motors. He has designed the diagnostic strategies for multiple types of electrification propulsion systems over the past two decades including pure electric, mild hybrid, and strong hybrid propulsion systems. Before coming to GM, Andrew started his career in the vehicle emissions testing area of Environment Canada and later moved on to lead the Hybrid Controls Team at Azure Dynamics Corporation. He has dozens of patents related to automotive controls and diagnostics. Andrew has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and is a licensed Professional Engineer.