General Motors Corporation announced in a press conference Monday that it will provide a $5 million grant to establish a collaborative research laboratory at the UW-Madison to develop improved diesel and gasoline engines.
The laboratory, part of UW-Madison's Engine Research Center, will use part of the funding to conduct experiments and create three-dimensional simulations of combustion processes. Also, the lab will experiment with diesel exhaust after-treatment systems and diesel-particular emissions traps. This research will lead to cleaner engine emissions and more efficient fuel economy.
\We are building a very special lab that will [be] very sophisticated, state of the art,"" said Neil Duffie, professor of mechanical engineering at UW-Madison. ""It represents an unprecedented opportunity for students.""
UW-Madison, which has maintained a cooperative relationship with GM since the late 1940s, will become one of only seven institutions worldwide to have a research lab funded by the corporation. Brown University, the University of Michigan, Carneige-Mellon University, Stanford University, Jiatong University in Shanghai, China and the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India have previously received the prestigious selection.
Half of the $5 million will be earmarked for specific research contracts between GM and the ERC while the balance will be used by the ERC as an unrestricted grant for various research. The funding will expire after five years, but may be renewed in the future.
