MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Five years ago, Dan Carder became a leader within the WVU Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions.
At that time, Carder said a concerted effort began to expose the program’s projects and researchers.
By May 2015, WVU research revealing some Volkswagens were sold with falsified information on the emissions became public.
In September the same year, the EPA announced the road-test results that found diesel engine vehicles were releasing 10 to 40 times more nitrogen oxide than the allowable limit.
Since then, the spotlight continues to shine on Carder and his team.
“Just some of the potential partners that we’ve had to before knock on their doors, now they’re knocking on our doors, which makes it nice,” Carder said Wednesday on WAJR’s Morgantown AM.
His comments follow the announcement of Volkswagen’s $14.7 billion dollar settlement from consumer lawsuits and government allegations of wrongdoing.
Carder, the director for the Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions, said with state and federal funding never a certainty, his department will use this success to build the program and make a bigger impact in West Virginia.
“Like many researchers at WVU, we’re not in the best of times in the state. We’ve got to help find a solution that we can make some economic impact. We’ve got to look at what we have at our feet now. It’s an opportunity. And, how do we build that?”
Engineers from his program are a hot commodity.
“It’s very hard to keep folks around. I get calls weekly from manufacturers and regulators both asking when are the next students available.”
Keeping them in the Mountain State is a challenge, let alone keeping them at the university.
However, there’s a turn in that direction, explained Carder.
“Mark (Besch) and Arvind (Thiruvengadam) have since graduated and we’ve been able to retain them in the group. The university has been very good about trying to help keep our team together.”
Tuesday, Volkswagen customers learned they will get a return, up to $10,000, for buying cars with inaccurate emissions information.
The WVU research has been noted on Motor Trend’s annual Power List and in Time Magazine’s publication of the most 100 influential people in the world.