The GDI (gasoline direct injection) engine developed by Mitsubishi Motors
has won the 1996 JSME (The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers) Medal
for New Technology. The presentation was made on April 1 at JSME's 74th
Annual Conference held at Aoyama University in Tokyo.
JSME annually presents several medals and awards with
the object of promoting the advance of mechanical engineering and the
growth of the engineering industry. The JSME Medal for Outstanding Paper
and the JSME Medal for New Technology are awarded to individual members
who have submitted a particularly outstanding research paper or technology;
the JSME Medal for Distinguished Engineers is awarded to an individual
member with a particularly distinguished career as an engineer, and the
JSME Young Engineers Award goes to a young engineer for an outstanding
research paper or technology.
The JSME Medal for New Technology awarded to the GDI
engine this year pays tribute to a new mechanical engineering technology
that will be brought to completion within a few years, and that makes
a major economic and socially-beneficial contribution by enabling the
development of a new and unique product or system, or by improving the
quality and performance of a product, or by increasing productivity.
The GDI engine is a next-generation power plant which,
by injecting gasoline directly into the cylinders, returns very low fuel
consumption, delivers high power outputs and also cuts CO2 emissions.
Since its announcement, the GDI engine has been highly acclaimed both
in Japan and overseas and has received several prestigious awards.
Aided by the high acclaim accorded the trailblazing unit,
the new GDI-powered Mitsubishi GALANT/LEGNUM series has sold strongly
since its launch in August 1996, recording sales of over 60,000 vehicles
by the end of March, 1997.
In the presentation of the 1996 JSME Medal for New Technology
to Mitsubishi Motors Corporation for the Development of The GDI Engine,
the following engineers at the company's Office of Passenger Car Development
& Engineering were cited
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Hiromitsu Ando
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Deputy general manager
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Engine Research Dept.
|
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Yasuhiko Iwamoto
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Manager
|
-- ditto --
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Kazutoshi Noma
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Manager
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Engine Designing Dept.
|
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Takaki Yamauchi
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Manager
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Performance Testing Dept.
|
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Osamu Yamanaka
|
Manager
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Engine Testing Dept.
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Other JSME award-winning Mitsubishi Motors' technologies
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1979
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MCA-JET engine
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1988
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Active ECS (electronically-controlled suspension)
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1989
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Hydraulic coupling unit for full-time 4WD vehicles
Fuel injection pump with pre-stroke control
|
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1993
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INVECS active safety system incorporating fuzzy
technology
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