IEEE organized the first driving experience event of its kind in Greenville in collaboration with CU-ICAR and SC-TAC
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[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end]By Dr. Joachim G. Taiber, research professor and institute director, CU-ICAR[/ezcol_2third_end]
The IEEE – the world’s largest professional association for the advancement of technology with more than 400,000 members worldwide – has recently chosen Greenville as the first location for a new type of technology event.
The idea was not to constrain the explanation of advanced transportation technologies into theoretical-centric presentations, but also to showcase the latest automotive technology trends in practice and in an applied context.
The IEEE/ITIC Automotive Innovation Driving Experience – which took place on Oct. 30 and 31 – was co-located at the CU-ICAR campus and at the test-driving area of SCTAC (South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center). At the CU-ICAR campus, academic, economic development and industry experts in the transportation domain discussed the importance of interaction between research and engineering activities, manufacturing and cluster creation in the Southeast region.
As an example, CU-ICAR presented research activities that were recently awarded in the area of parking innovation and human interaction with automated vehicles. The knowledge that has been locally generated by researchers can be applied to startup companies that are seeking funding by venture capitalists. As the knowledge is created in South Carolina, the state has more economic development opportunities to attract small companies with growth potential and a need to hire students from CU-ICAR.
An Italian startup company that developed a new electric motorsports vehicle gave an impressive presentation on why they are planning to develop a presence in Greenville. But also the local startup Proterra provided an overview of why it located to South Carolina and how it successfully translated R&D and manufacturing activities into a superior transportation solution, benefiting both from the proximity to CU-CAR and the option to test vehicles and charging infrastructure at SCTAC.
The most attractive innovation topics in the automotive world are currently the electrification of the powertrain, vehicle connectivity as well as automated driving. Major industry companies – such as BMW, Verizon, ZF and Michelin – contributed via presentations and test vehicles to learn more about how they innovate and provided examples of innovative technologies. One highlight of the event was the BMW i3 that accumulates many innovations such as a carbon fiber chassis, all-electric drive, a new HMI concept and a new interior philosophy.
SCTAC explained to the audience how the local development of the automotive industry and in particular CU-ICAR inspired them to develop a physical test area which can be used by the transportation ecosystem to try out new technologies –on the vehicle side as well as the infrastructure side. A process that took multiple years of economic planning resulted in the creation of a new nonprofit legal entity named ITIC (International Transportation Innovation Center; see itic.com) which is purposely designed to operate the test track and related service facilities.
ITIC provides a unique innovation platform where advanced infrastructure technologies such as wireless charging, high-performance networking and advanced vehicle technologies as well as automated driving and telematics services can be incubated in context, by offering proximity to CU-ICAR’s creative talent as well as educational and lab facilities at the same time. The IEEE event has demonstrated how learning about new technologies, developing new technologies and validating both new technologies and business models can be done in a combined manner.
Both the local economy as well as the local community itself can largely benefit from an integrated automotive R&D and manufacturing cluster centered around CU-ICAR and SCTAC. What could be seen from the IEEE demonstrations is that the integration of information and communication technologies and energy infrastructure technologies is key for the further advancement of transportation. This will result in new supplier relationships and also new requirements for so-called “testbeds.” And these new technologies will lead to new business opportunities, which can be supported by Clemson’s business program in Greenville downtown.
The local community itself could become a “living lab” to try new transportation models out and provide valuable feedback to the suppliers and researchers. For example, Greenville could become a pilot area for parking innovations, zero-emission driving and automated driving. Most of these innovations are currently being developed in other parts of the U.S. and in the world.
Now we have all the prerequisites to participate in the global race for innovation and contribute our share to develop practical and useful transportation solutions that improve quality of life and increase the safety and security of drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
