Connection to global organizations raises CU-ICAR profile

Tuesday, 26 June 2007

Page 2 of 2 Clemson, which aspires to be the premier automotive and motorsports research and educational center in the world, presented its first Endowed Chair Medallion to Kurfess in recognition of his leadership in the academic program. Kurfess also serves as a participating guest at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the Precision Engineering program and has served as a special United Nations consultant to the Government of Malaysia in the area of applied mechatronics and manufacturing. His research focuses on the design and development of high precision manufacturing and metrology systems. He also was one of four manufacturing industry leaders named by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers to its College of Fellows. SME Fellows are recognized by the manufacturing community as key contributors to the social, technical and educational progress of manufacturing. Last fall, Kurfess accepted $10 million in automotive testing and research equipment for the automotive engineering graduate program in CU-ICAR. The equipment includes an MTS seven-post shaker unit with a Weiss climate chamber, an FEV engine dynamometer, a RENK Test Systems chassis dynamometer and a state-of-the-art coordinate measuring machine from Carl Zeiss IMT Corp. and J&H Machine Tools Inc. Several companies, all worldwide leaders in their respective specialties, made such equipment purchases possible through in-kind gifts totaling $2.3 million. The tools combine to create a testing and diagnostic platform unlike any other, Kurfess said. “I don’t know of another university in the country, maybe in the world, that has this combination of equipment under one roof,” he said. “Clemson students and faculty are fortunate indeed. We are very excited.” Equipment manufacturers are the latest in a list of automotive industry supporters to join the CU-ICAR team, which includes BMW, Michelin, Timken and SAE. The Campbell Graduate Engineering Center is the focal point for academic research and technology transfer in support of the industry and offers master’s of science and Ph.D. programs in automotive engineering with emphases in systems integration. Facilities for full-scale vehicle and component testing are integral to the program. The funding process that made the donations possible is embedded in state legislation that provides state funds to match private dollars for higher education research infrastructure. In this case, the equipment manufacturers donated a portion of the cost, which Clemson was able to use as matching funds. “This innovative legislation—the South Carolina Research Infrastructure Bond Act¬¬¬—leverages and enhances private support for higher education,” Kurfess said. “Through the generosity of the manufacturers and the vision of the South Carolina legislation, we are able to provide our research teams with about $9.6 million worth of equipment for a cost of approximately $5 million. That is true investment in education.” << Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>