The automotive engineering programs are among the best in the nation. Students have direct contact with industry-leading OEM’s and suppliers as well as tremendous research capabilities. BMW is one of the pioneering corporate partners of the center. Masters-level and PhD students work together to study possible inefficiencies in existing automotive technology. One of the many working labs housed inside CU-ICAR's Graduate Engineering Center. With more than $200 million in commitments, CU-ICAR represents the ultimate public/private partnership, directly fueling a knowledge base critical to the automotive industry. Students and faculty here constantly ask themselves, 'what can we do on the energy front that will have an immediate impact on the whole issue now and not another ten years down the road?'

Caption

Technology Innovation for the Future

It has long been acknowledged that the figurative lifeboat in the current energy crisis is innovation. Less known, perhaps, is that these innovators--the ones who will make some of the most significant contributions as the auto industry redefines its future--will come, in large measure, from a town many, many gas tanks removed from Motor City: from Greenville, home to the International Center for Automotive Research.

More about the International Center for Automotive Research

To Look at it, Clemson University's sprawling 250-acre CU-ICAR complex, just off I-85, seems to offer a glimpse of all things possible. The collection of high-design office buildings in varying hues of industrial gray is sleek, overpowered by glass and sharp architectural lines and angles broken up by the occasional curve. They are monuments to research, conducted by some of the region's top automotive companies, including Timken and BMW. The centerpiece of the complex is a graduate-level engineering center ramping up production of its own product: a steady supply of masters- and PhD- level engineers who officials say will help innovate the automotive sector.

"There's a pretty high demand for our students," explains Dr. Thomas Kurfess, CU-ICAR's BMW endowed chairman of manufacturing and director of the automotive engineering graduate program. Volatile fossil-fuel prices and increasing government emission standards are driving the "green" demand. CU-ICAR students, through their studies and research, are focused on integrating and perfecting these prolific systems in a laboratory that rivals those of big car manufacturers. The school is a full-vehicle test facility outfitted with simulation tools, such as a shaker machine that replicates a range of road conditions, as well as an environmental chamber that recreates extreme weather conditions. These labs, and the facility as a whole, have become crucial tools in the pursuit of greener and more efficient methods of transportation.