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Clemson-ICAR takes shape
CLEMSON UNVEILS MASTER PLAN,
CAMPBELL CENTER DESIGN
A comprehensive master plan that will guide development of the Clemson
University International Center for Automotive Research (Clemson-ICAR)
was unveiled recently.
The master plan calls for the 250-acre campus to be developed as
five densely populated hilltop “villages” connected
by valleys designed to be retreat-like settings. The hilltop villages
are envisioned to be places where Clemson faculty and graduate students
interact closely and frequently with engineers and scientists affiliated
with current campus partners BMW, Michelin, Microsoft, IBM and the
Society for Automotive Engineers (SAE). Discussions with other potential
partners are ongoing.
The first hilltop village constructed, the BMW Information Technology
Research Center, houses research on hardware and software innovations
led by BMW with partners Microsoft, IBM and other world-class participants.
Adjacent to that structure will be Clemson’s Carroll A. Campbell
Jr. Graduate Engineering Center, which will house new degree programs
in automotive engineering with an emphasis in systems integration.
SAE also has announced plans to have a presence on the Clemson-ICAR
campus.
Clemson-ICAR is located at the midpoint of the Charlotte-to-Atlanta
I-85 corridor, which is home to hundreds of automotive industries
and suppliers and two-thirds of the nation’s racing teams.
The master plan reflects what Clemson President
James F. Barker calls the core values of Clemson-ICAR: collaboration,
innovation, and environmental sustainability. All buildings will
be designed to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) certification, an industry standard for “green buildings,”
and development will maintain or improve the area’s wooded
areas, meadows and waterways.
Campbell Center will be architectural icon for S.C. upstate
Clemson University’s Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Graduate Engineering
Center is not your average schoolhouse. The building that will house
one of the nation’s most innovative graduate programs -- automotive
engineering with an emphasis on systems integration -- is itself
one of a kind. The $25-million structure features architectural
form and innovative materials that are indicative of the kind of
innovation that will occur within its walls.
Designed for collaboration as well as innovation, the 70,000-square-foot
facility features an intentionally open plan, with maximum communication
between offices, laboratories and classrooms, to facilitate and
encourage interaction between faculty, staff and students. Large
open bays provide space for students to work on entire cars or automotive
components.
Unique spatial features of the building include a curvilinear public
atrium, glass walls that allow visitors to observe students and
faculty at work without intruding, and a ramp that ferries automobiles
into an elevated display gallery and auditorium. The building is
to be constructed of concrete and clad in a combination of dark
masonry and reflective zinc panels.
Clemson wanted a
building that would capture people’s imaginations, and the
design for the Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Graduate Engineering Center
does exactly that.
Kurfess first Clemson-ICAR Endowed Chair
Clemson University has named Thomas R. Kurfess, Ph.D., as its first
endowed chair for the new graduate program in automotive engineering
in conjunction with Clemson-ICAR (the Clemson University International
Center for Automotive Research) in Greenville.
Kurfess will fill the BMW Manufacturing Chair and will also serve
as director of the Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Graduate Engineering
Center. His appointment is the first of four endowed chairs planned
for the program.
Kurfess earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, completing his doctorate in 1989, and was
on the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University prior to joining the
Georgia Tech faculty in 1994. His research focuses on manufacturing,
automation and mechatronics with emphasis in system dynamics, control,
metrology, and precision system design.
“Joining Clemson is an exciting opportunity to do something
that is not being done anywhere else. Bringing academia and industry
together at Clemson-ICAR is not only important to the state of South
Carolina but to our country and society as a whole,” said
Kurfess. “This endeavor is enormous. Cars are going to be
here for a long time to come. The impact of Clemson-ICAR will be
major and far reaching.”
Clemson is scheduled to begin its new M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs
in automotive engineering with an emphasis on systems integration
in the fall of 2006. Students will begin their course of study on
the Clemson campus until completion of the Carroll A. Campbell Jr.
Graduate Engineering Center on the Clemson-ICAR Greenville campus
in the spring of 2007.
Timken joins Clemson-ICAR
Timken, a Fortune 500 company, will become a partner in Clemson
University’s International Center for Automotive Research
(Clemson-ICAR) by locating research and development facilities at
the 250-acre Greenville campus. The company is known for providing
automotive industry products and solutions based on its knowledge
of friction management and power transmission.
“Clemson-ICAR provides unparalleled access to world-class
automotive research, educators and partners,” said Jacqui
Dedo, automotive group president. “Co-locating our product
and process engineering for powertrain products at Clemson-ICAR
will strengthen our technical team, enhancing the products and services
we can offer our customers.”
The new worldwide powertrain engineering center located at Clemson-ICAR
will bring up to 110 jobs to the S.C. Upstate over the next two
years.
The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR) www.timken.com
keeps the world turning, with innovative ways to make customers’
products run smoother, faster and more efficiently. Timken’s
highly engineered bearings, alloy steels and related products and
services turn up everywhere -- on land, on the seas and in space.
With operations in 27 countries, sales of $4.5 billion in 2004,
and 26,000 employees, Timken is Where You Turn(TM) for better performance.
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