Popular stories in 2024, Part 2: July to December

Before 2024 ended, Power Progress looked at the year’s most popular stories in each of the first six months of the year. Now we look at the second half of 2024.

As with that earlier article, the following represents the most popular Power Progress article each month based upon specific criteria: the number of views the story received in that month only and stories published in 2024 only.

July: Deutz to acquire gen-set manufacturer in U.S.

(Photo: Blue Star Power)

In April 2020, Power Progress reported on the success Blue Star Power Systems, Mankato, Minn., had been enjoying up to that point. While that was nearly five years ago, Blue Star’s prospects apparently caught the attention of Deutz, which announced it would acquire the gen-set maker in what would be July’s most popular article.

In announcing the acquisition, Deutz said Blue Star would help the company move from being a component manufacturer to a solutions provider, noting that Deutz engines drive many generator sets.

“The acquisition will help us to advance decentralized energy supply globally with generator sets in rural and less developed areas,” said Dr. Ing. Markus Müller, CTO and CSO of Deutz AG.

August: Dana mourns Jeroen Decleer

In late July, Power Progress published an interview with Dana’s Jeroen Decleer, senior vice president for Off-Highway Drive and Motion Systems. It focused on how off-highway drivetrains were changing due to equipment electrification.

A couple of short weeks later, Power Progress reported that Decleer had suddenly passed away.

For someone who was only 44 at the time of his passing — and who had built a 20-year career at Dana — one need not question why this sad story topped the list of most popular articles in August.

Cummins’ Brad Sutton

September: Cummins’ Brad Sutton announced as Summit keynote speaker

Planning the Power Progress Summit, which was most recently held Oct. 1-2, 2024, in Chicago, is a nearly year-long process. As the Summit approached, Power Progress saw increased interest in the lineup of speakers.

Brad Sutton, executive director of Powertrain Engineering for the Engine Business at Cummins, was among the first wave of speakers confirmed for the event. But as excitement about the Summit built, the March story announcing Sutton as a keynote speaker topped the list of most popular stories in September.

October: Cummins collaborates on open CV telematics architecture

Technological innovation from various quarters often leads to challenges in standardization. For instance, many who grew up in the days of commercial videotape rentals will remember the “format wars” between VHS and Betamax.

Image: alphaspirit via Adobe Stock. Generated with AI.

Such is the case in modern times concerning telematics. To help address that, Cummins joined the Eclipse Foundation’s Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) Working Group. It’s a story that once again put Cummins at the top of the most popular article list, this time for October.

In addressing the move, Sherry Aaholm, vice president and chief digital officer at Cummins, said, “We are contributing this Open Telematics infrastructure through a non-commercial license because we believe having a common telematics environment will enable the industry to develop customer-facing applications more quickly and easily, bringing the value to our customers sooner.”

November: Cummins exec on the role of AI in the energy transition

Just as the month before the Power Progress Summit saw heightened interest in Cummins’ Brad Sutton as a keynote speaker, the month after saw Power Progress’ recap of his remarks in the top spot, completing a trifecta for Cummins articles near the end of the year.

Sutton’s talk on the critical role AI will play in the energy transition was well received by Summit attendees. Addressing the topic through the lens of his 35+ year career at Cummins — he started out writing troubleshooting trees for Cummins’ first electronic fuel system — Sutton sees AI as a way to dramatically improve the insights we can get from data.

“The ability to make decisions, to go through data, to understand anomalies, to understand different causations — it is extremely fast and almost overwhelming,” he said.

December: Dana plans to sell off-highway business

A hybrid drivetrain system from Dana for underground loaders that features the Spicer Electrified eSP502 powershift e-Transmission. (Photo: Dana)

Mergers, acquisitions and strategic planning are always popular news items — particularly when they involve a company with more than a century in the industry. That explains December’s most popular story: Dana’s plans to divest itself of its off-highway business.

Described as a means to streamline its business and provide additional shareholder value, Dana said it expected the sale of the business to allow it to focus on light and commercial-vehicle customers. It’s an announcement that coincided with Dana’s appointment of R. Bruce McDonald to chairman and CEO of the company.