MINNEAPOLIS (April 1, 2019)—Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI), a leading worldwide manufacturer of filtration systems and parts, has announced the 2018 patent recipients and winners of the company’s Inventor Awards, which are given to employees whose work on various technology innovations have contributed to Donaldson’s continued success as a leader in filtration industry.
The Technology Achievement Award is given to an individual or team who has developed a material, product, process or method that has made an extraordinary contribution to Donaldson’s long-term success. This year’s winner is the Fluent ePTFE Membrane Innovation team; members include Karen Bentley, product manager, Membranes; Richard Brandimarte, senior engineer, Membranes; Rob Pannepacker, senior product development engineer, Membranes; Kirit Patel, global manager, Technical Materials; Brian Patterson, engineering manager, Process & Technology; and Anil Suthar, engineering director, Membranes.
The Emerging Innovator Award recognizes innovative technical leadership from those with fewer than 10 years of experience at Donaldson. This year’s winner is Michael Cronin, senior research engineer, Media Technology.
The Frank A. Donaldson Award, named after the company’s founder, recognizes long-term engineering achievement. This year’s awardee is Fred Wahlquist, project engineer, Aerospace and Defense (retired).
The Richard M. Negri Manufacturing Excellence Award, named for a past VP of operations, whose many contributions greatly advanced Donaldson’s global operations, recognizes an individual who has created and implemented significant process technology/product improvements for manufacturing operations. This year’s awardee is Edgar Santillano, engineering manager, Projects and Process, Donaldson Latin America.
- Michael Wynblatt, Donaldson VP and CTO
Donaldson also recognizes 83 individuals who received patents in calendar year 2018: Dan Adamek, Andrew Albitz, Keith Alderson, Mark Brandl, Steven Campbell, Hoo Young Chung, Bernard Cohen, Paul Coulonvaux, Bruce Crenshaw, Andrew Dallas, Korneel De Rudder, Nic Degelin, James Doyle, Joseph Einberger, Randall Engelland, Daniel Fertil, Carolyn Finnerty, Chris Fischer, Aaron Gao, Steven Gieseke, Gary Gift, Gary Gillingham, Rob Glisson, Paul Gossez, Peter Groth, John Hacker, Janelle Hampton, Brian Hoang, Bruce Hoppenstedt, Doug Iddings, Kenji Ito, Giancarlo Izzi, Derek Jones, Kurt Joscher, Veli Kalayci, Vladimir Kladnitsky, Bill Krisko, Brad Kuempel, John Kuhn, Greg LaVallee, Kathy Legault, Dan Little, Tom Lundgren, Brian Mandt, Kent Mehlhop, Massimo Movia, Ben Nelson, David Nelson, Allen Nicklay, Tom Olson, Richard Osendorf, Tom Raether, Abdelkhalic Rbayti, Greg Reichter, Gary Rocklitz, Bob Rogers, James Rothman, Steve Sabelko, Jacob Sanders, Jake Savstrom, Jens Schafer, Bart Schellens, Kevin Schrage, Hans-Michael Schuster, James Scott, Piyush Sharma, Richard Suydam, Heather Tate, Brian Tucker, Dan Tuma, William Vanaudenhove, Sergio Vargas De Avila, Erwin Verbelen, Paul Way, Darrel Wegner, Gerald Weineck, Paul Wendt, Matthew Whitten, Gert Willems, Timothy Winters, Nathan Zambon, Dustin Zastera, Brian Zauner
“The world’s filtration needs are continually evolving, and Donaldson’s engineering, technology and operations teams develop the innovative solutions that anticipate and meet these needs,” said Wynblatt.
