Dr. Briggs has been active in IC engine R&D for 24 years within academia, industry, and R&D labs. His specialty is advanced combustion, having investigated alternative fuels, combustion computational fluid dynamics, low temperature combustion, and advanced spark- and compression-ignited combustion systems. Dr. Briggs is a recognized expert in Low Speed Pre-Ignition and has been invited to speak at multiple events regarding the impact of this phenomenon on future developments for automotive engines. He has authored over thirty papers and presentations on his research and has presented at a wide range of technical and government conferences.
Dr. Briggs received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where he developed a two-wavelength diagnostic method for imaging dense liquid sprays. His M.S. and B.S. degrees were from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he investigated natural gas and biodiesel engine combustion.
Dr. Briggs’ began his career at Caterpillar. There, he developed computer codes for 1-D and 3-D engine combustion simulation and worked with universities and outside laboratories to perform optical diagnostics of diesel combustion systems. He later was on the research staff at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he led programs on waste heat recovery system development and low-temperature diesel combustion. Dr. Briggs has also taught courses on energy conversion systems and future powertrain technology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
Dr. Briggs joined Southwest Research Institute in 2011 in the Advanced Combustion and Emissions Section. He led the P3 research consortium which developed the first test methods for evaluating Low Speed Pre-Ignition, now widely used by the lubricant industry to develop new products. As the manager of the Engine Systems Research and Development section, Dr. Briggs began the Advanced Engine Fluids research consortium and guided programs for fuels, lubricants, and engine component development. Dr. Briggs currently is a task leader and technical specialist on the HEDGE consortium for gasoline engines and the CHEDE consortium for diesel engines. He also runs the Powertrain Consulting Service, providing specialized engineering consulting to clients in the transportation industry. His most recent area of research is the development of advanced waste heat recovery technologies for engines using supercritical CO2 working cycles.
PATENTS & PUBLICATIONS: Dr. Briggs has published over 30 papers and presentations on fuels, emissions, combustion, and engine systems. He holds two patents on engine technologies.
PROFESSIONAL CHRONOLOGY: Caterpillar, Inc.: research engineer, 1997-2002; University of Wisconsin- Madison: 2002-2008 (graduate student, 2002-7; lecturer, 2006; senior lecturer, 2008); Oak Ridge National Laboratory: postdoctoral research associate, 2007-8; member of the research staff, 2008-11; Southwest Research Institute: 2011-[principal engineer, 2011-13; manager, 2013-16; program manager, 2016-17; staff engineer, 2017- present].
MEMBERSHIPS: Society of Automotive Engineers; The Combustion Institute (past Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Central States Section).
EDUCATION:
Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2007
M.S., Agricultural Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1998
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1995
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