Ford researcher Dr. Haren Gandhi rethought the use of precious metals in the automotive catalysts used in emissions systems. His work was honored countless times, and today, one of Ford’s most prestigious individual technical honors bears his name.
Ford recently honored dozens of employees with the company’s highest technical honor, the Henry Ford Technical Awards. Until recently, the annual awards ceremony included just one individual award, and its namesake was one of the world’s foremost researchers into automotive emissions.
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Gandhi joined Ford in 1967 and went on to a legendary career with the company.
During Dr. Haren Gandhi’s 43-year career at Ford, the company made a discovery that revolutionized how the automotive industry approaches emissions controls. Under his direction, Ford became the first company in the U.S. to use non-platinum and non-rhodium three-way catalyst technology, replacing the precious metals which had previously been the key active components of automotive exhaust systems.
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Gandhi’s research revolutionized the auto industry’s approach to emissions controls.
Gandhi, who died in 2010, held 167 global patents, many of which were related to automotive exhaust catalysis. Gandhi joined Ford Motor Company in 1967, and he was named among the first class of Henry Ford Technical Fellows – the highest rank for a scientist or engineer in the company – in 1994.
Rarefied air
Over the course of his career, Gandhi won five Henry Ford Technology Awards, the company’s highest technical honor. He also received numerous other technical awards and honors, most notably the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 2002. Gandhi became the first researcher from the automotive industry to earn the nation’s highest honor for technological achievement, which had been bestowed upon previous recipients, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Wilson Greatbatch, the inventor of the cardiac pacemaker. It was presented to Gandhi by former President George W. Bush at the White House. In 2017, Gandhi was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Haren Gandhi is the epitome of what this company stands for – building great cars and trucks and passing along a stronger business and a better world to future generations. … Haren has made the world a cleaner and better place for all mankind.
Executive Chair Bill Ford, in a 2002 press release
Following his death, the annual Dr. Haren Gandhi Research and Innovation Award was established to recognize individuals for their achievements in innovation. This year’s award went to Dr. Christine Lambert for her research and development of diesel and gasoline engine emission control technology. Ghandhi hired and mentored Lambert early in her career.
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Gandhi was presented with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by former President George W. Bush at the White House in 2002.
Gandhi left a legacy of innovation and a cleaner, healthier world. The continued recognition of similar feats by other great minds in Ford Motor Company made in his honor ensures his work will continue to inspire future generations of researchers and innovators.
