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Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR)—Automotive Design and Development
Inception: About the Center: CU-ICAR is a worldwide automotive/motor sports research and development campus where university, industry, and government organizations can engage in synergistic collaboration. It is strategically located in Greenville, S.C. on the Interstate 85 corridor and in the rapidly growing Southeastern automotive and motorsports region. At CU-ICAR, Clemson University offers the nation’s first Ph.D. in automotive engineering.
This Center researches and advances the fields of vehicular design and development, methodologies and tools for optimizing the design and control of complex vehicle systems. Timken SmartState Endowed Chair Zoran Filipi and his team place particular emphasis on the advanced and alternative power trains, including the research of novel engine concepts, alternative fuels, hybrid electric and hydraulic propulsion systems, and a broader area of vehicle electrification. The approach relies on deep insight from scientific experiments to develop predictive multi-physics models as building blocks for system design and optimization. Integrated system simulation tools are used to explore the paradigm-shifting potential of new concepts. Finally, the advanced simulation methodologies and sophisticated experimentation are brought together in the component-in-the-loop and powertrain-in-the-loop facility, so that novel hardware designs can be investigated in the lab under real-world conditions. Non-state funding has been secured with the Timken Company, which provides automotive industry products and solutions based on friction management and power transmission. In September 2006, Timken (now Koyo) opened its Greenville Technology Center on the CU-ICAR campus, which houses 200 employees and Timken’s product development activities for automotive applications and its worldwide corporate center of excellence for dimensional and surface metrology and manufacturing process development. Dr. Filipi's team is working on developing new projects with Timken and a number of other OEMs and suppliers aimed at providing solutions for future transportation systems that are capable of addressing the challenges related to energy security and the environment. This Center has received over $1.5 million in grant funding from federal and private sources. State funding: SmartState Endowed Chair:
Dr. Filipi, the Timken Endowed Chair in Automotive Design and Development, discusses plans with students for experimental evaluation of the new powertrain concept on a four-wheel chassis dyno in the semi-anechoic chamber. The facility provides a critical capability for investigating the performance, fuel emissions, and Noise-Vibration-Harshness issues and serves as a unique learning experience for graduate students in the Clemson University Automotive Engineering Department.
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