Fadi Abu-Farha Receives CAREER Award
Fadi Abu-Farha, Assistant Professor of Automotive Engineering, has been awarded a $400,000 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award to research the manufacturing of lightweight materials into automotive components.
Lightweight materials (such as AHSSs, aluminum, magnesium and CFRPs) have been considered the key to achieving lower fuel consumption vehicles; yet the persistent problem is how to incorporate such materials into the highly cost and production rate sensitive “automotive sector.”
The research component of this CAREER award focuses on developing a new manufacturing process, Fadi refers to it as “Hot-Blank Cold-Die” or simply “HB-CD”, for forming low-density lightweight materials (aluminum and magnesium alloy sheets) into automotive body components. What makes HB-CD attractive is its “simplicity” compared to warm and hot forming processes. That being said, HB-CD involves complex material deformation characteristics that have not been adequately studied, and thus they are not fully understood. This research project will tackle these issues. If successful, the HB-CD will enable the manufacture of aluminum and magnesium parts at production rates similar to those of conventional steel stamping. The impact of this will stretch beyond the automotive sector to other transportation sectors.
The broader impact of this research is “greater utilization of aluminum and magnesium sheets in the transportation sector with significant short-term and long-term energy savings," Fadi says.The CAREER award will also include educational and outreach components in collaboration with The Children’s Museum of the Upstate (TCMU) in Greenville SC. A variety of projects and activities that aim at exciting young children about advanced materials and manufacturing will be designed and performed. These components are the building blocks towards the greater goal of inspiring and training the next generation of engineers, researchers and innovator.
Fadi joined Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) in January 2012. He teaches lightweight design and advanced manufacturing processes. Fadi’s research involves the characterization, processing and manufacturing of a wide range of lightweight materials (aluminum, magnesium, titanium and advanced high strength steels).
The Faculty Early Career Development Program is the National Science Foundation's most prestigious award in support of the early career-development activities of teacher-scholars who most effectively integrate research and education in the context of the mission of their organizations. The award description states “the activities should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of integrated contributions to research and education”.