PEORIA, Ill. (July 15, 2004) — Caterpillar is congratulating two of its engineers, Jim Weber and Scott Leman, who have been named the National Inventors of the Year for 2004 by the Intellectual Property Owners Association.

Weber and Leman were team members part of a group that designed the engine maker’s ACERT technology, which is now being used in Cat diesel engines to comply with stringent Environmental Protection Agency regulations that took effect in October 2002.

Weber and Leman were recognized for inventing a new air management system combined with precise valve control to reduce emissions at the point of combustion rather than downstream in the exhaust. An advanced air system with series turbochargers and a novel variable valve actuation device precisely provides the optimal quantity of cool, clean air into the combustion chamber at various engine speeds and loads thereby enabling more complete combustion, the company says. This invention combined with advanced fuel systems, engine electronics and effective aftertreatment make up ACERT technology.

“When we formed the ACERT team, Jim Weber was one of the first people we called. Jim is a leader, a mentor, a brilliant engineer and scientist,” Tana Utley, Caterpillar’s director of engineering for ACERT, said in a press release. “Scott Leman is also a gifted engineer with an extensive background in fuel system technologies. In this case, he specialized in variable valve actuation, knew what was possible and how it could fit with the other technologies in forming ACERT.”