When West Virginia University's Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions was
called to perform real-world testing in California on the latest “clean diesel” engines from
Volkswagen, their eye-opening results shook the automotive industry, revealing an emissions
cheating scandal that ultimately cost the automaker $2.8 billion in federal fines and another
$18.32 billion in expenses in an attempt to rectify the deception.
In this case study, Roger Forsgren, NASA's Chief Knowledge Officer, examines how the
unrealistic—and perhaps impossible—goals set by the automaker to simultaneously push
engine power levels up and emission levels down left engineers working on the project with
an ethical test that they ultimately failed.
The case study includes the story of one of these engineers, Oliver Schmidt, a brilliant
man who rose through the ranks at Volkswagen, was sent to the United States to better
understand the demands of this crucial market, and who ultimately paid a high personal price
for his role in the scandal.
