Madison, Wisconsin - June 24, 2025 Dr. Kelly Senecal, Co-Founder of Convergent Science, was recently awarded the 2025 Soichiro Honda Medal by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The Soichiro Honda Medal recognizes individuals for outstanding achievements or contributions in developing improvements for personal transportation. Senecal was nominated for his role in developing widely used simulation tools for transportation applications and his advocacy for practical solutions for cleaner mobility.

Senecal is a co-founder and owner of Convergent Science, a leading computational fluid dynamics (CFD) company that develops and supports CONVERGE CFD software. One of the original developers of CONVERGE, Senecal helped pioneer the software's hallmark autonomous meshing technology, which drastically reduced the manual hours required to run CFD simulations and turned CFD into a valuable tool for analysis-led design. He also played a significant role in developing and implementing many of the initial spray and combustion models that enabled accurate analyses of internal combustion engines. Subsequently, he has helped oversee and direct the development of models for other personal transportation systems, including electric motors and battery packs. Senecal's company has recently started incorporating machine learning tools into CONVERGE, taking advantage of modern technologies to enable rapid and cost-effective optimization studies. Overall, CONVERGE has allowed automotive companies to make unprecedented technological advances while saving hundreds of millions of dollars.

Furthermore, Senecal is the co-founder and director of the Computational Chemistry Consortium (C3), a collaboration between industry, academic, and government partners to develop detailed chemical kinetic mechanisms for both conventional and alternative fuels. Recent work has focused on improving chemistry for zero- and low-carbon fuels, such as hydrogen and ammonia, as well as developing chemical mechanisms for lithium-ion batteries. C3 publicly releases its mechanisms, providing researchers around the world with powerful tools to develop more sustainable transportation systems.

In addition to his technical contributions, Senecal is a vocal advocate for practical, technology-neutral solutions to reduce emissions from personal transportation. His award-winning book, Racing Toward Zero: The Untold Story of Driving Green, discusses how embracing a diverse set of propulsion technologies-internal combustion engine, hybrid, and fully electric vehicles-could offer the fastest path to cleaner mobility. Senecal regularly provides keynote addresses at international conferences and speaks on this topic to engineers, policymakers, and students. He actively supports continued funding for research and development of personal transportation technologies.

"Over the years, the Soichiro Honda Medal has been given to influential and brilliant engineers, and it's an incredible honor to join their ranks," says Senecal. "This award inspires me to continue pushing for a pragmatic approach to emissions reduction and to further improve the simulation tools manufacturers need to develop advanced, sustainable transportation systems."