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2 It seems fitting to start
with Dr. Gutman the man.
A wonderful and special man, who
dedicated hours of his personal
time to helping those who needed
it. I remember telling him, in my
early days of working at the faculty,
about how I was renting a completely
empty apartment, and my family and
I lacked the most basic supplies. Dr.
Gutman didn’t say a thing, but two
days later informed me that he had
organized a van from the Technion to
bring me, completely free of charge,
the furniture we so desperately
needed at the time. I remember how
in those early days after immigrating
(and every immigrant will agree that
the first years are the hardest and
most challenging) my young son
was injured, and we didn’t know
what to do or where to turn. And
we didn’t have a car. As usual, I
told my friend Dr. Gutman about it
and he, despite his perpetually full
schedule, dropped everything in that
moment, put me in his car and drove
my son and I to the hospital to get
help, stayed with us while my son
was being treated, and brought us
back home once we were given the
all-clear. To this very day, my oldest
son – now a father to three children
of his own – says confidently that Dr.
Gutman is the best person he’s ever
met in his life. And these are just a
few of hundreds of stories about this
wonderful man’s kindheartedness,
resourcefulness, determination,
wisdom and generosity. Stories
like this explain why people still
recognize, remember, and afford
great respect to Dr. Gutman
whenever he visits the University of
Iasi, even 40 years after he left.
3 But he’s not just a great man: He is also a great scientist, who has
contributed enormously to science and to this country. Thanks to Dr.
Gutman's initiative and hard work, Israel became the first country in the world
where all fuel sold at gas stations, both diesel and gasoline, contains sediment-
reducing additives. This saves drivers thousands of shekels in engine repairs, not
to mention the aggravation of
car troubles and visits to the
garage. None of this would
have been possible without the
development of novel methods
of checking engines, which
Dr. Gutman led in the TICEL
under the direction of the late
professors Arthur Stotter and
Yoram Zvirin. It could not have
happened without Dr. Gutman’s
insistence and faith in the
righteousness of his mission,
which enabled him to overcome bureaucratic obstacles, “survive” dozens of hours
of meetings in various and sundry committees, and ultimately achieve the desired
outcome.
Thanks to Dr. Gutman’s work, and to the development of new methods for
evaluating the stability of diesel, the IDF solved one of its most difficult problems in
long-term fuel storage; for this, the IDF remains immensely grateful to Dr. Gutman.
In the mid-nineties, Israel was one of the first to join the club of advanced countries
to outlaw leaded fuel and allowed the massive introduction of vehicles that reduced
air pollution thanks to a catalytic converter that required unleaded fuel; this is also
thanks to Dr. Gutman’s initiative and hard work.
4 Dr. Gutman was endowed with a rare knack for
identifying technology trends that most people miss.
This was evident in the mid-eighties when he pushed with
all his might for transitioning to vehicles that use renewable
methanol fuel. During that period, he performed an experiment
in collaboration with Dor
that included tens of
thousands of vehicles that
were operated with fuel
containing methanol. This
was one of the biggest
experiments in this field
anywhere in the world.
Forty years later, today
everyone agrees that
methanol is one of the
most promising renewable
substitutes for fossil fuels,
which can be manufactured
while absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere, and thus truly solve
the problem of greenhouse gas emissions.
With his tremendous contribution to the Technion and the entire
country, and with his unique personality, Dr. Gutman serves as a
role model for us all, and especially for young researchers, as a
shining example of a man, scientist and citizen.
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering | MEgazine | 25