Haley stresses importance of education at auto summit at CU-ICAR

Published: February 16, 2012

Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research image by: Clemson University

GREENVILLE — Gov. Nikki Haley welcomed the 2012 S.C. Automotive Council’s Manufacturing Summit to the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) Thursday and stressed the importance of education to one of the state’s key industrial sectors.

South Carolina is at the heart of manufacturing in the U.S., Haley said. Companies are looking to invest in South Carolina because the state has great things to sell: the cost of doing business is low and South Carolina is a very business-friendly state, she said.

But the state must ensure it has a trained workforce for these manufacturers, and people looking for jobs need to know what certifications they need and how to get certified.

“Companies coming here need to know there is a trained workforce ready to go,” Haley said. “And we must ensure these companies have a trained workforce to help attract them to South Carolina.”

The two-day summit at the Embassy Suites Golf Resort and Conference Center featured remarks by state Commerce Secretary Bobby Hitt and representatives from across the auto industry. (Click here to view the full summit agenda.)

The summit moved to CU-ICAR for the afternoon, where attendees toured the campus, including the Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Graduate Engineering Center. Researchers discussed their roles supporting the state’s automotive industry through research and education.

Imtiaz Haque, executive director of the Campbell center, said innovation through education and research is vital to the North American automotive industry’s worldwide competitiveness.

In September last year, Clemson announced a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to create a center for research and education in sustainable vehicle systems at CU-ICAR.

Established by the DOE’s Graduate Automotive Technology Education, or GATE division, the five-year program funds curriculum development and expansion, as well as laboratory work, which the DOE hopes will foster multidisciplinary training.

The aim is to develop an engineering workforce that will overcome technical barriers and help commercialize the next generation of advanced automotive technologies.

Summit attendees also heard from Joachim Taiber, research professor in the Clemson automotive engineering department, and Paul Venhovens, associate professor and BMW Endowed Chair in Systems Integration.

Taiber’s research focuses on advanced vehicle-to-infrastructure interaction, such as charging-in-motion and high-bandwidth wireless networks.

The auto industry, in collaboration with the energy and communication industries, is developing powertrains, renewable fuels, lightweight materials and advanced communications that are creating new market opportunities, Taiber said.

Venhovens leads CU-ICAR’s innovative Deep Orange program in which students in Clemson’s graduate automotive engineering program develop, manufacture and integrate innovations in a new vehicle prototype.

Each year, a prototype vehicle is developed with a new market focus and technical objectives. The projects showcase advanced technologies and provide students an opportunity to work directly with automotive industry partners to innovate and develop ideas.

The students’ work was showcased at the 2011 Specialty Equipment Market Association show and the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show, both in Las Vegas.

Overall, the auto industry’s future is bright.

Keynote speaker Peter Brown, publisher and editorial director of Automotive News, said the industry is on an upswing, with dealers and manufacturers across the board predicting gains for the coming year. Companies are hiring again after an extended period of layoffs, and, generally, North American automakers and suppliers will do better this year than those in Europe, with German manufacturers a likely exception, Brown said.

What’s changed? The business model of the “Big Three” Detroit auto makers has changed, becoming more streamlined, Brown said. Meanwhile, giants such as Honda and Toyota are recovering from recent poor sales years.

“Everyone’s raising their predictions for the year,” Brown said. “There’s a lot of optimism out there.”

The summit continues Friday, when industrial engineering professor Bill Ferrell discusses supply chain and logistics, and Anand Gramopadhye, director of the Clemson University Center for Workforce Development and associate vice president for workforce development will speak on a panel titled “Designing tomorrow’s automotive workforce.”

Other speakers include U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and William Strauss, senior economist and economic advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

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