(See Projects story on the Well-to-Wheel Study.)

Where are you from?
I was born in the medieval town of Schaessburg in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, where I attended German schools.

When did you come to the United States?
We moved to Sterling Heights, Michigan, when I was a teenager. I began school two days after we arrived even though I only spoke a few words of English. I picked up the English language through a reverse approach by taking classes in languages I did know, such as French, German, and Mathematics.

How did you end up at GM R&D?
Through a counselor in school I was approached with this opportunity and was lucky to get the job immediately. I have always found the work here interesting and challenging.

How did you get involved in your current studies?
I have been involved in fuel economy studies since the early '80s. I worked on one of the earliest hybrid vehicle projects at the R&D Center developing simulation software to predict the performance and fuel economy of advanced powertrain concepts. I have since been interested in analyzing and assessing the fuel economy benefits of numerous advanced powertrains, including engines, accessories, transmissions, and vehicle-level technologies.

How did you get involved in the Well-to-Wheels study?
My experience in the area of assessing advanced technologies qualified me for leading the analysis effort of the vehicle portion in the North American Well-to-Wheels study. Later I worked on the European study, which coincided with my move to Germany on an assignment at Opel. It was certainly a benefit to the study for me to be on-site in Europe, because coordinating the information needed was a large task and required communication with many people from various groups. It certainly helped to make these contacts in person and obtain the trust of the project engineers, who were concerned that the technologies in the study be represented fairly and accurately. They were far more comfortable sharing the data needed once they understood and appreciated the integrity put forth in this analytical work.

What are you working on now?
I am still active in the area of assessing advanced technologies for improving vehicle fuel economy with special focus on evaluating after-treatment systems to improve engine emissions. I am also working on making the tools developed for evaluating advanced technologies available to our partners at Opel, Saab, and FGP in Europe.

What excites you most about your research?
Being considered an expert in my field. I enjoy being asked to assess and quantify the benefits of new technologies through the use of the math-based tools we have developed. I also very much enjoy working with and learning from the experts in the various GM engineering units and the universities we collaborate with.

Where is your favorite vacation spot?
Chiliadou, Greece. It's a nice, quiet, quaint place on the Corinthian Gulf, great for snorkeling, swimming, relaxing and reading. I like the numerous archaeological sites that are easily accessible (Delphi and Olympia are within two-hours drive from Chiliadou) and the small villages along the coasts of Greece.

What hobbies do you enjoy?
Mainly photography. We used to have a photo contests at the R&D Center where I entered and even won a prize. We do a lot of traveling and in particular I love photographing architecture and museum art. Being in Europe during the last three years gave me unbelievable opportunities to exercise this hobby and to build my portfolio with digital photography.

Tell me more about your favorite quote …
That is how my father used to motivate us when we were young. Nobody ever encouraged him to get an education and he was even prevented from getting one by his father. Unlike material possessions that could be taken away or lost, he felt that an education was something more substantial to build on. Thus, his biggest ambition was to provide us children with the opportunity to get the education he missed out on. This was also the main driver for him to bring us to the USA and begin a new life for the family. The struggle to leave Romania under the communist regime was arduous and took over 10 years to accomplish. Unfortunately my father died soon after we settled in and did not live to see his children get an education.

You've listed your most significant accomplishment as becoming a researcher. Why?
When we first arrived in the United States, my uncle drove us past the Tech Center. Even though he was a Ford employee, he referred with admiration to the Tech Center as the 'brains and think tank' of General Motors. I remember saying that I was going to work there one day. He just laughed. I just became determined!