For more than 30 years, Paul Miles has driven breakthroughs in engine-combustion research at Sandia National Laboratories; in recognition of his transformative contributions, he has been honored with the DOE Vehicle Technologies Office Lifetime Achievement Award.
Paul’s honor is the culmination of decades of conducting and supervising research projects funded by the VTO, focusing on various engine combustion applications. His work involves advanced optical diagnostics as well as turbulence modeling fundamentals to investigate key mixing and combustion phenomena. Paul’s measurements of bulk flow motion, turbulence, and pollutant emissions have elucidated the mechanisms behind late-cycle mixing and emissions in diesel engines, with clear linkages to production engine implementations that have led to substantially reduced emissions. He also led DOE programs on spark-ignition technology and created the Co-Optima merit function to evaluate how fuel properties like octane number and flame speed enhance efficiency compared to baseline fuels.
A Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), Paul has received many prestigious awards, including the SAE Horning, Myers, and McFarland awards, as well as the ASME IC Engines award. He has served as co-chair of the SAE Powertrain, Fuels, and Lubricants activities and is a member of the advisory committees for several international conferences. Paul retired from Sandia this fall after 33 years of service.