Ford's Jurgen Putzschler Named Dynamicist of The Year

Ford's Jurgen Putzschler has been named "Dynamicist of the Year" for his work on the new Ford Focus and C-MAX by Vehicle Dynamics International magazine.

Putzschler is Ford's supervisor of medium car vehicle dynamics. He was chosen from a three-person shortlist by the international panel of judges.

"This is truly a great honour and I am very pleased to receive this award on behalf of the entire Ford vehicle dynamics team," said the 49-year-old engineer.

Putzschler and his team are responsible for Ford's vehicle dynamics, which is how the car behaves on the road and affects how customers perceive a car. Factors include body stiffness as well as ride and handling, ultimately the goal is to achieve vehicle that is fun to drive.

"Ford's new medium, or C-car, platform is its most versatile yet: a range of family cars, MPVs, SUVs, electric vehicles and performance cars will all derive from it, for worldwide markets and with a remarkable degree of commonality between them. It can be a thankless task to serve so many masters, but on the evidence of the Focus and C-MAX, Jurgen has done a remarkable job," said Graham Heeps, editor, Vehicle Dynamics International and member of the judging panel.

Putzschler said he considered the award an honour for Ford's global team, which challenged itself to deliver top driving quality even as it improved the refinement of Ford Focus and C-MAX.

"Most car manufacturers concentrate on either vehicle dynamics performance or on quality and refinement," he said. "The perfect combination of both attributes may be the key reason for the award. We could have decided to significantly increase refinement, quality impression and maturity and trade vehicle dynamics against it, but we decided to improve on both."