Dr. Charles Roberts Jr., an Institute Engineer in the Engine, Emissions and Vehicle Research Division at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and is a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Dr. Roberts manages SwRI’s Powertrain Consulting Service, which provides consulting to transportation industry clients worldwide.
At SwRI, which he joined in 1997, he has developed a variety of engine and emissions technologies while acting as project manager for numerous internal and client-supported projects. He specializes in engine research, combustion systems and combustion chemistry. He is manager of the SwRI Clean Diesel program, one of the world’s longest-running and largest diesel engine cooperative research consortia, consisting of more than 20 client-companies from around the world. Additionally, Roberts is an original patent-holder and program manager for the SwRI HEDGE® technology and cooperative research program, where cooled exhaust gas recirculation and turbocharging technologies were researched toward current widespread application in the gasoline vehicle industry.
Dr. Roberts has authored more than 25 technical papers on subjects including diesel and gasoline engine development, engine simulation, combustion chemistry, ring pack and piston design, variable valve mechanism control, and methods for reducing oxides of nitrogen emissions, unburned hydrocarbons and particulates from diesel and spark-ignited engines. He holds 20 patents in the areas of engines and emissions technology.
Roberts holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Texas A&I University and a doctorate in mechanical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. He is currently an adjunct faculty member at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
