| Join us for an SAE SoCal Virtual Meeting When: Wednesday, September 30, 2020, 6:00 PM PDT  While initially cultivating hot rod roots as a high school student in Pasadena, Dr. Andrew Frank has long been known to many as the “father of the plug-in hybrid”, based on his fifty years’ of development of these vehicles both as a professor at U.C. Davis and as a principal owner of Efficient Drivetrains, Inc. This discussion will cover highlights of Dr. Frank’s pioneering work, the technological advances that have unlocked progress along the way, and where the indefatigable Andy continues to push us all to go next. Where: A video recording of this event can be found below and on the SAE SoCal YouTube Channel.   Dr. Andrew A. Frank is an emeritus professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Davis. He is affectionately known as the “father of the modern plug-in hybrid”, having developed his first in 1972 and roughly 100 more since. His UC Davis students became famous in college engineering circles for being the only team that brought plug-in hybrids to Detroit car-of-the-future competitions, winning it 4 times. He founded Efficient Drivetrains Inc., in 2014 to focus on developing medium- and heavy-duty plug-in hybrids before selling the company to Cummins Engine Corp. in 2019. Dr. Frank has been awarded 45 patents throughout his fifty-year career in energy storage vehicles, and he continues to champion their environmental, economic, and engineering potential for markets around the world.  Chelsea Sexton has been working to accelerate electric transportation since the mid-1990s, starting with the General Motors EV1 program. Her diverse adventures since have included co-founding Plug In America, guiding VantagePoint Capital Partners’ early investment in Tesla Motors, and directing an automotive X PRIZE to encourage the development of compelling, highly efficient vehicles. She was featured in the Sony Pictures Classics documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car?, and was a consulting producer on the follow-up, Revenge of the Electric Car. Chelsea continues to work as an advisor, speaker, and friendly co-conspirator with companies, non-profits, and policymakers around the world to make the movement of people and goods cleaner, safer, and more accessible. She is the US presenter on Fully Charged, likes torque and horsepower more than anyone rightfully should, and tilts at windmills as a lifestyle choice. |
