Rittinger Award
Awardees 2005
The five awardees of the 2005 Peter von Ritter Rittinger Awards are:
- Dr. Bernard Spinner, France
- Dr. Katsuhiko Narita, Japan
- Mr. Nance C. Lovvorn, United States
- Research Team GEMINI, Norway
- Mr. Wayne R. Reedy, United States
Bernard Spinner
Dr. Bernard Spinner of France (deceased), a distinguished researcher in the field of sorption heat pump technology. Dr. Spinner, who served as Director of the French CNRS Institut des Materiaux et Procedes, led a team that developed the STELF process, a thermo-chemical based heat management and cold production system. Over the last 20 years Professor Spinner contributed to the improvement of this process, and in 2000 he was awarded the very prestigious European Grand Prize for Innovation in the theme of the year “Energies and their Applications.” This prize promotes European industry and applied research.
Katsuhiko Narita
Dr. Katsuhiko Narita, who was instrumental in the rapid development of the Japanese heat pump market and in stimulating technical advances for heat pumps now applied in world markets. Dr. Narita has been active in the IEA Heat Pump Programme and, as a key member of the Japanese National Team, coordinated the team and provided initiative in establishing the Heat Pump and Thermal Storage Technology Center of Japan in 1986.
Nance C. Lovvorn
Mr. Nance C. Lovvorn of the United States, who pioneered customer satisfaction programs at the Alabama Power Company for heat pumps that have had very broad and lasting impact in improving reliability of heat pumps, and initiated training programs for designers, installers and service personnel. His efforts included certification of installers, applications and manufacturers, and the monitoring of long-term performance and reliability of installed heat pumps. Studies that Mr. Lovvorn conducted in conjunction with the Electric Power Research Institute have been of continuing value to utilities and governmental agencies involved with heat pump applications internationally.
Research Team GEMINI
Research Team GEMINI – Center Applied Refrigeration in Norway, who combined talents of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and SINTEF Energy Research to advance and promote CO2 heat pump technology. The team has worked with manufacturers and industrial partners for commercialization of the CO2 technology to a number of new application areas including automobile air conditioning and domestic water heating. Furthermore the leading activities undertaken by the team have encouraged a significant volume of international research and development activity – both by private companies and in the form of international collaborative projects. Work by this group has resulted in new products introduced, under license, by manufacturers in Japan.
Wayne R. Reedy
Mr. Wayne R. Reedy of the United States who, as a researcher and product development engineer, was responsible for numerous new heat pump component and system designs, including integrated products, resulting in 17 patents. He developed techniques for the first field measurements of “in situ” operating efficiency of heat pumps, and managed the first extensive program using instrumentation packages for monitoring performance of installed residential and commercial systems in the U.S. and Europe. In the 1970s Mr. Reedy led a team that developed the industry’s first microprocessor-based control for residential heat pumps and was responsible for development of two air-to-air heat pump products featuring integrated potable water heating.