Clemson University’s new head of automotive engineering says the department needs to invest heavily in connected vehicle research, as well as build its national and international reputation to promote South Carolina as an automotive hub.
“We are the new kid on the block, but we are fully grown up,” said Dr. Zoran Filipi, who was named today as chair of the Department of Automotive Engineering and executive director of the Carroll A. Campbell Graduate Engineering Center. While the program has already gained national and international acclaim, Filipi said, “We have to be very strategic about future growth.”
Filipi is replacing Dr. Imtiaz Haque, the founding chair of the department and previous executive director of the center, who is retiring. The automotive engineering department is part of the College of Engineering and Science, which drives the research aspect of the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) in Greenville.
Founded in 2006 with three graduate students, under Haque the department grew to more than 200 students and around 20 faculty by last year. Filipi said the growth has maxed out student and faculty capacity in their current building, and that part of the new $14 million facility at the CU-ICAR campus will afford some space for the department.
“Everybody is growing and growing really fast,” said Filipi, who came to Clemson University three years ago from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. “Companies are way beyond what they predicted three years ago.”
Filipi said the department’s multidisciplinary approach to research would set it on the path to success, with emphasis on the multiple aspects of vehicle system design and fuel efficiency needs.
“The car as we know it is transforming, and it’s all driven right now by regulation. In about 10 years, we have to double the fuel economy, but at the same time, all of you expect performance, expect car safety, the fun factor, and it has to be affordable,” he said. “How do we do that? This is what our faculty here work on.”
While the department has strengths in engine powertrain compulsion and in manufacturing, Filipi said the department already has a team of 12 faculty members working on connected vehicle research.
“In the area of connected vehicles, this is an area where we need to invest, and we will need to find more people,” he said. “It’s still in its infancy.”
Changes in fuel efficiency demands will not only affect the engine itself, but will require lighter composite materials for lighter vehicles, which will in turn affect current manufacturing processes, said Filipi.
“I think the faculty here are ready for all of those challenges coming our way,” he said. “The challenges for us and for society are at the same time opportunities for both faculty and students.”
Filipi was the director of the Center for Engineering Excellence through Hybrid Technology at the University of Michigan, and also served as deputy director of the Automotive Research Center, a U.S. Army Center of Excellence for modeling and simulation of ground vehicles.
