New Auto-Supplier Research Venture Established in Michigan
By Michelle Krebs August 13, 2008By Bill Visnic
TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan - The automotive supplier sector is teaming with various government entities and universities in a newly-formed "cooperative research alliance" called the U.S. Automotive Partnership for Advancing Research and Technologies.
Based in a former Delphi Corp. facility in Shelby Township, MI, USAutoPARTs executive director Stephen E. Zimmer told attendees at the Center for Automotive Research's Management Briefing Seminars here that the non-profit alliance was formed to engage in collaborative research and development targeting three areas:
⢠Lightweight materials
⢠Vehicle thermal management
⢠Engine combustion and exhaust aftertreatment
Zimmerman says one of the main goals of USAutoPARTs is to give its supplier members easier and more effective access to scientists at Dept. of Energy national laboratories, many of which already are engaged in extensive and ongoing auto-related research. He also said his long experience working with industry-government consortia such as the FreedomCAR and USCAR programs can help members in navigating the bureaucracy of government labs.
He called the new organization a "portal" to research at the larger national laboratories.
Zimmerman also says the USAutoPARTs cooperative will enable members to leverage their R&D dollars by a factor of three to six times compared with working alone.
From 2004 to 2007, Zimmer was director of government collaborative programs for Chrysler LLC.
He told attendees here that any parties or individuals interested in the activities of the new USAutoPARTs alliance can find contact information at the organization's website.
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