The mission of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) is to provide world-class education for the next generation of automotive industry leaders, through oncampus learning and continuous professional development; serve as a catalyst for innovation in automotive technology through collaborative, interdisciplinary research; and support economic development, regionally and nationally.
Current federal investment in infrastructure, in the semiconductor industry and in lowcarbon energy solutions are creating an environment in which innovation in mobility technology – land sea and air – is undergoing a rapid transformation that is causing dramatic changes and re-alignment in the mobility industry.
Our focus at CAR is on assisting and supporting our mobility industry partners in their quest for advancements in technology that are relevant to the electrification of the automotive industry, including safer and lower cost battery chemistries, EV charging systems, high voltage power electronics and related systems that support this transformation. We are also deeply engaged in innovation in safety, connectivity and automation, and in the development of tools that can accelerate the adoption of these technologies in the product development process. How do we make sure that we support our partners in advancing these technologies and transfer innovation to them most effectively?
As we explore innovative solutions in collaboration with industry partners and government agencies, we must also address the need to develop a new workforce that will support the evolution of the mobility industry. In addition to continuously improving our curricula and engaging our students in experiential education programs, such as the AutoDrive Challenge II and the latest installment of the EcoCAR competition, we are actively working with multiple partners to develop programs ranging from continuing
education to student recruitment (who then will become part of the new workforce), to retraining and upskilling existing workers. All of these elements are critical to the success of our industry partners.
Several announcements have been made recently that cover the broad automotive region of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee and cover two very important areas. One being the establishment of the significant and growing number of battery manufacturing plants in these states, another being Intel’s announcement of two semiconductor fabrication facilities built right outside of Columbus, making Central Ohio a hub of silicon micro-chip production. It is clear that the Midwest is undergoing a momentous transformation – CAR is very closely aligned with many of these developments and we believe that we are well positioned to complete and engage in continuing education programs, R&D programs and technology transfer with you, our partners. We see the next several years as a game changing time period where the automotive industry will complete a transition to the next phase of mobility technology.
Giorgio Rizzoni
“Being a part of Buckeye Current has given me the opportunity to push the boundaries of electric motorcycles. It has been exciting to be able to work alongside intelligent individuals at CAR who have the same passion for racing.”
Laura Friedmann
Graduate Research Assistant
Buckeye Current
“Ohio State Motorsports has provided a dynamic, fast-paced and high-stakes environment for me to hone my skills and test my mettle. The pivotal experiences provided by Ohio State Motorsports has facilitated character, professional and technical development that has landed me my-dream job and prepared me for the journey to come.”
Gage Sovey Mechanical Engineering
Ohio State EcoCAR
“Ohio State Motorsports was the best decision I’ve made in my college career. I’ve made lifelong friendships with my teammates and have learned so many skills that I would have never had been able to attain from the classroom alone.”
Kevin McIlvaine Welding Engineering Formula Buckeyes
“Being on the Baja team has expanded what I’ve learned in the classroom through hands-on experiences and strengthened my leadership skills. I’m applying what I learn in the classroom to design and gaining manufacturing experience, which will be really beneficial when I go out into the workforce.”
Pantelis Anton Mechanical Engineering Baja Buckeyes
“Being a member of Buckeye AutoDrive enriches my experience both inside and outside my major and area of study by applying my knowledge and skills to my team and collaborating with members of other teams. I get the chance to try and learn things such as manufacturing tools and the pros and cons of different mechanical designs.”
Ciwen Shao Mechanical Engineering
Buckeye AutoDrive
The Ohio State University EcoCAR team placed second overall in the four-year EcoCAR Mobility Challenge competition and earned several awards for exceptional technical work and presentations.
Next year Ohio State will partner with Wilberforce University in the EcoCAR EV Challenge where they will be one of 15 teams challenged to design, build, refine and demonstrate the potential of the advanced propulsion systems and CAV technologies in a 2023 Cadillac LYRIQ.
The Ohio State University Buckeye AutoDrive team finished in second place in year one of the SAE AutoDrive Challenge II.
Sponsored by SAE International and General Motors, Ohio State along with nine other universities were challenged with developing and demonstrating an autonomous vehicle (AV) that can navigate urban driving courses as described by SAE Level 4 automation in this four-year competition.
Year one of the competition was held June 6-12 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and focused on the initial skillset required for designing and developing AVs. The teams were also required to give presentations on the MathWorks Simulation Challenge, concept design report and project management report.
“In their first year in the AutoDrive Competition, was impressed with the team’s showing, especially in the static events,” said Alex Pax, Ohio State’s General Motors Team Mentor. “The team did well distributing the workload and allowing many students to be involved in different aspects. would also like to commend the faculty on their leadership and guidance throughout the year.”
The Buckeye AutoDrive team is comprised of undergraduate, master’s and PhD students from Mechanical and Aerospace (MAE), Electrical and Computer (ECE),
Computer Science (CSE) and Industrial Systems Engineering (ISE) and is advised by Research Associate Professor Qadeer Ahmed (MAE), Clinical Associate Professor Lisa Fiorentini (ECE) and Assistant Professor Harry Chao (CSE)
The Buckeyes also were recognized for outstanding performance across various events throughout the competition, taking home an impressive six awards overall.
› 2nd place: Year 1 Overall Static Events
› 2nd place: Systems Safety & Technology Reports
› 3rd place: Dynamic Obstacle Challenge
› 3rd place: MathWorks Simulation Challenge
› 2nd place: Project Management Report
“It was really amazing to see how the team kept themselves composed during the high-pressure times,” said Ahmed. “It was an amazing team effort and the team leads deserve much of the credit. They got a good taste of how things go in real life.”
Providing educational tools that fit diverse training and professional education needs while leveraging existing research and continuing education relationships between The Ohio State University and industry.
Students can access online material at their convenience and complete the courses at their own pace. Utilizing Ohio State’s Scarlet Canvas platform, students are provided with a one-stopshop experience for course options, registration, payment and content access that simplifies and enhances their experience.
In addition to the online courses, live sessions are offered throughout the program. Ohio State faculty and researchers are at your disposal for questions and discussions relevant to course content.
CAR is responding to the industry’s need for educational tools that allow for handson and focused training for their engineers. Graduate level automotive engineering courses have been repurposed into a short course format that is fast, flexible and convenient. Courses can be taught on-site at CAR or at the industry location.
India China Brazil Italy France
Topics include alternative fuels, electrical storage systems, power electronics for automotive applications and Matlab for data analysis as well as lightweight design and SIL-HIL techniques for automotive control development.
Topics include battery composition and safety, electrical storage systems and power electronics. Powertrain
Topics include internal combustion and diesel engines as well as automotive HVAC.
For more information contact Marianne Weber at weber.305@osu.edu or visit car.osu.edu
Led Continuing Education programs for engineers at: Led courses on topics related to:Over the past year, Ohio State’s Center for Automotive Research (CAR) engaged with more than 5900 individuals and conducted 150 events including tours, camps, internships and other outreach activities.
Elementary and H.S.
16 engagements
1032 students
tours
students
Employed 25 high school and college summer interns who worked with faculty and staff on current research projects.
• 40 visits
1400 visitors
•
visits
12 people
Hosted 36 community college educators from around the country as well as another 69 secondary educators from around Ohio
The Ohio State EcoCAR Team worked with a local Boy Scout troop to develop curriculam towards a Scout Badge for Automotive Maintenance
Hosted Ohio State and College of Engineering leadership members Grace Wang, Ayanna Howard, Andre Palmer and Tim Rehner
Hosted SAE Board of Directors for a virtual tour during their annual executive meeting in Columbus, OH
Led continuing education programs for engineers at Honda, Stellantis and Schaeffler
Provided tours to students and faculty from Ohio State Lima and Newark campuses
Welcomed Buckeye Paws to CAR for a photo shoot and mental health visit
Hosted the OmniAir PlugFest, a week-long bench and field testing event which included a one-day technical workshop, one-day Women in STEM event, facility tours and product demonstrations
Toured Senator Portman’s Mobility team to learn about the biggest advancements in the automotive industry and discussed legislative priorities in mobility
EcoCAR represented CAR at Green Energy Ohio EV Day to celebrate electric vehicles which included multiple partners in electric automotive technlogy
Turkey China India Bangladesh Egypt South Korea Spain France Germany
Data from 2021 calendar year
As an introduction to crash safety, campers were challenged to roll an egg down a ramp into their hand-built crumple zones. The team that could successfully roll their egg from the highest point without it breaking won!
It’s not every day you get to walk through the world’s most advanced wind tunnel! Camp CAR toured the new Honda Automotive Laboratories of Ohio (HALO) facility, located at the Transportation Research Center Inc. (TRC). The wind tunnel serves three separate state-of-the art testing functions — aerodynamics, aeroacoustics and racing.
The campers took a test drive in the Driving Dynamics Lab’s Driving Simulator. In addition to a fun experience, students learned about the importance driving simulators play in building vehicles.
On the last day of camp, the campers took everything they learned about programming, control, optimization and autonomy and applied it to a hands - on robot activity.
The Machine Shop in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering led the campers through the process of building their own mini-cars by using various manufacturing processes.
“I loved being able to talk to experts in their fields as well as the graduate students here at Camp CAR. They really facilitated fantastic conversation and I’ve learned a ton!”
PRESCOTT HARTZLER, GALENA, OHIO
“I really liked getting to see all of the facilities that the engineers at Ohio State work in and also getting the opportunity to work with some of the tools that they use.”
LOGAN BODNER, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA
“My favorite part of camp was all of the handson experiences. We went to many different areas of the research center and I really liked that rather than always being talked at, we were able to see what we were learning about.”
AARA UPADHYAY, LIMA PERU
Ye Cheng, PhD, a recent graduate from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has spent the last three years conducting research at the Center for Automotive Research (CAR). She met CAR Director Giorgio Rizzoni at a conference in China and was very impressed by his work and presentations, saying that “the kindness and enthusiasm with which Giorgio showed people about CAR research activities encouraged me to introduce myself to him.” Eventually, she joined the center.
“Ye demonstrated from the beginning that she is serious, dedicated and hardworking,” said Rizzoni.
In her time at CAR, Cheng’s main projects have been concerned with batteries in electric vehicles and aircraft. “Transportation electrification, renewable energy and energy storage technology are inevitable future trends,” said Cheng.
One of the projects she worked on was a NASA University Leadership Initiative (ULI) focused on developing a cleaner, quieter, hybrid electric aircraft. The University of Maryland, Georgia Tech, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University were all involved in this project. Ye herself has been involved with this project since August of 2019, and she said it was quite challenging for her.
To achieve the fuel burn reduction and energy efficiency, the battery pack needed for this aircraft would be composed of thousands of cells, which is a large system and brings a series of challenges for battery management system. Her tasks were to determine which battery architecture to use, the optimal sensor strategy in the battery and diagnosis algorithm design.
She is proud of herself for learning so much information in so little time, noting that she enrolled in one of Professor Rizzoni’s courses about structural
analysis for fault diagnosis, and read many papers on the methodology to figure out how to apply it to a battery system.
She fondly recalls reporting her results for review in December of 2021 and getting feedback that called her work “groundbreaking.”
Ye is now working as a researcher in the Global Research and Development Department at GM. She says that the work she did at CAR with battery system design lined up very well with the work she will be doing at GM. She plans to continue writing papers to publish for the NASA ULI program as well.
While he was pursuing his master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Ohio State University, Cody O’Meara was a graduate research assistant at the Center for Automotive Research (CAR). In his time there between 2016 and 2018, most of his work focused on battery research.
O’Meara got involved with CAR during a tour for his master’s program where he met CAR Director Giorgio Rizzoni and Associate Director Marcello Canova. This tour was enough to interest him, and he ended up joining CAR when he began his master’s degree research.
O’Meara said he always knew he wanted his work to focus on sustainability but wasn’t sure where exactly his research would fall. “But when I visited CAR and talked to professors Canova and Rizzoni about their research related to batteries, I knew that was what I wanted to do with my career,” he remarks. He also noted that he saw potential for a long career in the field, knowing there would always be new challenges to keep his interest.
and he was able to connect with the right people and ended up being selected to work there.
At NASA Glenn, he continued his work with batteries and now conducts research in the space and aeronautics fields. Some of the projects he has been involved with include the SPARRCI project as well as electrifying aircraft.
“I would not be here if it weren’t for CAR and the education and hands-on experience I got when I was a student there,” noted O’Meara. “Between the classes, professors, doing research – all of that gave me the tools and the skills to be able to join NASA. CAR was definitely paramount to my journey and where I am now.”
CODYYEDuring his time at CAR, O’Meara worked with Professors Jung-Hyun Kim and Canova and was also one of the founding members of the Smart Campus student organization. While in this organization, he was involved with Buckeye Precious Plastic Project, which won a $25,000 grant for recycling plastic. O’Meara noted that one of his biggest takeaways from this organization was its self-sustainability. After stepping down from his position in Smart Campus, the organization continued to grow and thrive. This is no different than the projects O’Meara has been involved with professionally since graduating.
With Professors Kim and Canova, O’Meara worked on various projects involving lithium-ion batteries and improving energy density with new materials. He also completed a summer internship with NASA Glenn in Cleveland. During this internship, he found out that they had a battery group
NASA is investing in Electrified Air Propulsion (EAP) research to lessen the environmental impact caused by commercial aircraft.
These aircraft are highly efficient, require less energy and allow for cheaper air travel.
One factor that plays a critical role in these aircraft is the electric motor. NASA sought the expertise of Dr. Codrin-Gruie (CG) Cantemir, a research scientist at Ohio State’s Center for Automotive Research, to develop a 10 Megawatt Ring Motor concept.
The electric motor developed in this project is powerful enough to be used in large transport aircraft such as a Boeing 737.
Cantemir says it’s important to note that this motor, which has already set four world records, is based on a continuous power rating, rather than peak performance, the number that is most often advertised for electric machines. In on-highway applications such as passenger cars and light trucks, peak performance is a key factor. The motors can develop very large amounts of power for 10 to 30 seconds, but after that the power must be drastically reduced. The motors developed for aircraft and marine applications require full power for longer periods of time, in many cases continuously.
As a result of this project, Cantemir developed a new theory called the Tuned Coil Theory which allows him to implement a solid conductor winding, which can operate very well at high frequency.
“Once the theory was developed, its implementation was unique because no conventional implementation was adequate,” said Cantemir. “We needed to use unconventional materials for an unconventional motor. We came up with some new solutions that had never been tested before. We took risks and they worked.”
To keep the motor lightweight, the number of phases increased from a conventional three-phase system to a nonconventional, asymmetric six-phase system made entirely of conventional, American-made
materials. This specific motor has only one circuit per stator slot and several enabling fabrication technologies were also developed to bring this design to fruition.
Cantemir developed a new, simpler, more efficient control technique for the motor because its electromagnetic behavior makes a conventional “Vector Control” obsolete.
Cantemir found that power electronics utilizing asynchronous modulation to be a severe limitation for this application, so the team developed their own modulation technique known as synchronous modulation. They were able to make this synchronous modulation work from zero to the max RPM, another first for this project.
“There are over 20 unique and creative steps that must all take place at once for this project to be a success,” said Cantemir. “What we are currently listening to is just the draft of the overture and now we have to master the symphony.”
When you think about public bus transportation, you likely think about where to get on, where to get off, and how much time it will take you to get from point A to point B. What you probably don’t think about is if the bus has enough fuel, if another bus is ready to go if the one you’re on breaks down, or the multitude of other details that need to be taken into account for your ride to go smoothly.
Until recently, these details were simple to handle because busses were powered by readily available fuels and have been for years, so the logistics were in place. But with new technologies that are enabling transit agencies like the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) to incorporate electric busses into their fleet, a significant amount of planning, research and testing is being required for these scenarios to run smoothly.
For passenger vehicles, one of the major concerns with electric busses is range anxiety, which is consumer fear that busses don’t have enough battery power to go the distance they need to. Unlike traditional gas-powered busses, which require only a few minutes to refuel, and can be done conveniently, electric busses can take hours to charge and there may not be a charging station nearby. These factors can impact which routes electric busses can be deployed to.
COTA came to the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) with the question, “How do we work with and predict electric range of busses in a wide variety of operating conditions?”
“Leveraging information provided by COTA such as bus routes, passenger demands, and historic data on weather and traffic conditions, CAR is developing prediction tools that use basic measurements collected on buses during service to forecast the energy consumed and the available range of the battery pack,” said Mechanical Engineering Professor, Marcello Canova. “This information is critical to COTA, as well as all transit agencies, for making important decisions on how to best allocate electric buses on their services and route options.”
Factors that impact battery life include weather, number of passengers, driver aggressiveness, traffic, and health and age of the battery pack.
“The idea of the project is to come up with predictive models,” said CAR’s Senior Associate Director David Cooke. “Commonly in research projects, we have tons of information and data, and we have the capability to run experimental tests with our facilities at CAR, but in this case, we are looking to maximize the prediction capabilities with limited amounts of data.”
A combination of modeling and simulation along with physical testing is being used to make these predictions, which can then be used for multiple busses in the future.
“Because we have access to the heavy-duty chassis dynamometer at CAR, we have the ability of designing and running some tests to understand the bus energy usage,” said Stephanie Stockar, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. “However, extensive testing is very time consuming and requires an electric bus to
be taken off service. In addition, it might not provide a full picture of the bus operation as we would not be able to fully reproduce what happens on the road (temperature, road conditions, passenger loads). Instead, we are using a combination of physics-based models and data-driven methods to extract as much information as possible by fusing basic measurements collected on-road and data collected through targeted and controlled testing.”
CAR has worked frequently with medium and heavy-duty vehicles as part of its commercial testing program as well as the FTA LoNo program, but this is one of the first opportunities to work on-site with full battery electric busses. “COTA is getting electric busses on routes and in their daily operations,” said Cooke. “We are helping them think through and understand what reasonable expectations are over different conditions. It’s an exciting opportunity to partner with COTA on this project.”
“As America’s solutions department, DOE is working with manufacturers and industry partners to reimagine vehicle transportation across the country to achieve our climate goals – from lowering carbon emissions to increasing efficiency and affordability,” said Granholm. “This investment and the innovations that come from it will help shape our clean energy future and strengthen domestic manufacturing that supports good-paying careers for hardworking Americans.”
Part of that funding will go to the SuperTruck initiative. Now on its third iteration, the SuperTruck initiative aims to make heavy-duty, long-haul trucks more efficient. SuperTruck 3 will work to improve medium- and heavy-duty truck efficiencies and reduce emissions of freight transportation.
According to the DOE, SuperTruck 3 will fund five heavy vehicles manufacturers (PACCAR, Volvo Group North America LLC, Daimler Trucks North America LLC, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors LLC) with a combined $127 million over five years. They will pioneer electrified medium- and heavy-duty trucks and freight system concepts to achieve higher efficiency and zero emissions.
Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm announced that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will provide nearly $200 million in funding to 25 different projects aimed at putting cleaner cars and trucks on America’s roads. That includes long-haul trucks powered by batteries and fuel cells and an effort to improve the nation’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
The Ohio State University is serving as the primary research university supporting the PACCAR team, which is tasked with developing 18 Class-8 battery electric and fuel cell vehicles with advanced batteries along with a megawatt charging station, which will be developed and demonstrated. Ohio State’s Center for Automotive Research will focus on energy analysis of the truck and fleet data using a combination of model-based and machine learning/artificial intelligence techniques.
“This project provides the Ohio State team with an excellent opportunity to learn and interact with leading OEM and solutions providers for future (super) fleets of electrified, connected and autonomous trucks,” said Research Associate Professor Qadeer Ahmed, who is leading the Ohio State portion of the project.
Photo credit: COTAIn 2017, The Ohio State University Center for Automotive Research (CAR) was selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Authority (FTA) as the program manager and official test site for the FTA Low and No Emissions Component Assessment Program. A year later, The Ohio State University was designated an FTA Bus Testing Center.
LoNo programs support the introduction of low and no emissions transit buses into transit system fleets. Ohio State will perform full vehicle life-cycle evaluations, system level and individual component testing and directed technology research. This work will support the transit industry in introducing new advanced technology into both existing and future fleets. The results will provide unbiased public assessments of low- or no-emission vehicles, systems and components, documenting their real-world maintainability, reliability, performance, structural integrity and efficiency.
Under the FTA LONO program, Ohio State was awarded an additional $13 million in capital funding, bringing its total to $26 million to develop and support the on-campus Bus Testing Center. The passage of the Infrastructure and Jobs Investment Act now specifically directs Ohio State to conduct directed technology research related to advanced vehicle technologies that provide advancement to the entire public transportation industry.
CAR is working with Ohio State leadership to finalize the design and construction requirements for the bus test center laboratory expansion. CAR’s 18,000-squarefoot laboratory expansion will include a heavy-duty chassis dynamometer and
dedicated lab space and test equipment focused on electric machine testing, autonomous system development and validation, vehicular cybersecurity research and energy storage development in addition to vehicle service bays and office/meeting space.
Shawn Midlam-Mohler was born to build things, to design and create. It’s a skill he’s been honing since he was a kid building Lego sets.
EcoCAR challenges 11 teams of undergraduate and graduate students to apply advanced propulsion systems, as well as connected and automated vehicle technology, to improve the energy efficiency, safety and consumer appeal of a Chevrolet Blazer. The nationwide competition is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors and MathWorks.
Under Midlam-Mohler’s guidance, Ohio State’s EcoCAR team is often the one to beat, winning six of the last seven challenges and rarely finishing outside the top three.
Ohio State’s team has won numerous diversity awards given out by EcoCAR, not only for the representatives on the team but for outreach efforts in the university and Columbus communities.
It’s also a diverse team in terms of disciplines, with an array of engineering backgrounds along with team members from business and communications.
Midlam-MohlerWhen he arrived at Ohio State as a master’s degree student in 1999, he wanted to put those engineering skills toward something environmentally responsible. He found the perfect spot with Ohio State’s EcoCAR Mobility Challenge team. Along the way, he also discovered a love for mentoring.
In the years since, as Midlam-Mohler ascended from student to research staff to professor to director, his devotion to creating a healthier environment through his vehicle mobility designs while fueling the next generation of engineers has only intensified.
“I truly love what I do, and I love the impact I’m making on students,” said Midlam-Mohler, clinical professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, director of Ohio State’s Simulation Innovation and Modeling Center (SIMCenter) and EcoCAR faculty advisor.
“This program ignites an entrepreneurial group of students operating inside the university with access to all the great stuff at the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) and it lets them innovate,” Midlam-Mohler said. “It’s a class, a research project, a hobby – it’s just … a business.”
Along with his work as a mentor, Midlam-Mohler breaks ground with his own research, using computer-aided modeling and simulation to innovate new design methods for industry and government partners, allowing him to improve everything from “engine valves to heart valves.”
The vast majority of those projects focus on improving energy efficiency and cleaning up emissions, mostly within the auto industry. As the director of the SIMCenter and a researcher with CAR, he’s heavily engaged in advanced automotive systems, autonomous vehicles and electrification of vehicles and systems modeling.
Midlam-Mohler said much of his work, as an engineer and a mentor, is entwined with the resources and land-grant mission of Ohio State.
“You think of what a land-grant mission is and what we do is exactly that,” he said. “I can’t imagine being able to do all this anywhere else but Ohio State.”
Stockar is optimizing next-gen vehicles for a more efficient, sustainable world
Stephanie Stockar thrives on challenges. That’s why her research focuses squarely on one of the biggest challenges we face: Sustainability.
Specifically, Stockar is devoted to unlocking the intricacies of making cars and trucks more efficient, from saving us money at the pump to making hybrid, electric and autonomous vehicles run smoother and longer.
“There are so many problems related to optimizing a vehicle, making it more efficient,” Stockar said. “I love it, it’s so challenging. But also it has a big impact on everyday lives. Everyone drives a car, if you can save 1% on one vehicle and propagate it, you’re saving a lot of energy.”
Stockar is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) at Ohio State and an affiliate to the Center for Automotive Research (CAR). She uses modeling and simulation to discover how energy
systems can be optimized and controlled, whether that’s tweaking the HVAC system of a Smart home or improving the powertrain in your car.
“Many of Dr. Stockar’s research topics focus on solving real-world engineering problems,” said Li Tang, advanced propulsion control senior engineer at BorgWarner. “She has an ability to balance research and development with the needs of industry to bring technologies to market.”
Tang, a former student at CAR, is collaborating with Stockar on the NEXTCAR project, a program funded under ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy). Through NEXTCAR, researchers like Stockar are working to optimize fuel economy in connected and automated vehicles.
It’s the second such project. In the first NEXTCAR project, Ohio State researchers improved fuel economy on a light-duty vehicle by more than 20%.
The goal of this iteration aims to improve energy efficiency in a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle with Level-4 automation by 30%. Level-4 automation is one step below fully autonomous vehicles, meaning a vehicle can drive itself so long as a human is present in the car.
“We’re looking at how we can use this technology in the best possible way, smoothing the velocity profile, optimizing the power,” Stockar said.
Stockar said projects like NEXTCAR wouldn’t be possible without the infrastructure CAR has built.
“It’s not just physical resources but it’s the people we have here,” she said. “The engineers, technicians, the pipeline of students, it’s an incredible amount of expertise. And what we do is very impactful. I find it very rewarding.”
The Ohio State University Center for Automotive Research (CAR) participated in the 2022 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit showcasing the Ohio State led NEXTCAR program with partners BorgWarner and Transportation Research Center Inc. (TRC). The summit, held in Denver on May 23-26, brought together technical experts from a variety of disciplines across industry, academia and government to think creatively about America’s energy challenges and share cutting-edge research in energy innovation. The Summit was attended by Jennifer Granholm, U.S. Secretary of Energy.
“The ARPA-E innovation summit is an amazing event that brings together more than 2,000 attendees, 20 government agencies, and 200+ project teams all focused on the next generation of advanced energy technologies,” said CAR Senior Associate Director David Cooke, who serves as the project manager. Resuming the in-person event was an excellent change of pace and provided the opportunity to meet with numerous teams across industry, academia and government.”
ARPA-E stands for Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, which is a government agency tasked with promoting and funding research and development of advanced energy technologies.
NEXTCAR stands for Next-generation Energy Technologies for Connected and Automated On-Road Vehicles. The NEXTCAR team is currently porting technologies developed during Phase-I from a mild HEV (hybrid electric vehicle) powertrain to a Plug-in HEV powertrain on a Chrysler Pacifica vehicle platform. Additionally, the team is extending these technologies to achieve 30+% energy savings leveraging higher levels of automation and connectivity.
Key additions include optimizing the energy use of on-board auxiliary loads (mainly HVAC system and Thermal Management Systems) and using a Deep Reinforcement Learning framework to account for uncertainty in driving conditions such as traffic and enable validation of the technologies in representative traffic environments.
The vehicle is being outfitted by a third party upfitter with the required sensing and computing stack to achieve SAE-L4 capable driving automation.
Baseline vehicle energy evaluation is underway and this will be followed by a systematic evaluation of the energy efficiency benefits from the various enabling technologies on a closed-course test-track at TRC to evaluate gains in a real-world setting,” said CAR Research Associate Dennis Kibalama, who is the lead engineer on the project.
Project partner and commercialization strategy leader BorgWarner has developed an intelligent driving application which can be resident on any vehicle controller, is propulsion system agnostic, and supports varying levels of automation (SAE L0 – L5).
The CAR Membership Consortium provides a unique opportunity for industry to engage in original, highly leveraged precompetitive research in automotive and transportation systems with a focus on advanced propulsion systems; fuel economy; vehicle safety, connectivity and autonomy; and advanced driver assistance systems. Thank you to our current members.
Over the past year, our industry partnerships have led to:
Data from 2021 calendar year
For more information contact David Cooke at cooke.76@osu.edu or David Emerling at emerling.4@osu.edu or visit car.osu.edu
› The opportunity to participate in leveraged, precompetitive research
› The opportunity to engage graduate students in preparation for future careers in the automotive industry
› An outlet to reach undergraduate students through capstone design and other project activities
› The opportunity to host focused recruitment events
The recipient of the 2022 Dwight Blaser Meritorious Service Award is Jeff Hemphill, chief technical officer for Schaeffler in the Americas. This award is presented annually to individuals or organizations whose sustained and extraordinary services have had a significant and lasting effect on the advancement of Ohio State’s Center for Automotive Research (CAR).
Hemphill played an integral role in CAR being home to the first Schaeffler Hub for Advanced Research (SHARE) Program in North America. The SHARE program uses the “company on campus” concept that includes dedicated offices for full-time Schaeffler employees at the university to foster a close collaboration between Schaeffler employees, university researchers, PhD candidates and students. Schaeffler manufacturers rolling element bearings for automotive, aerospace and industrial uses.
“This program is an ideal way for Schaeffler to inspire and foster the next generation of automotive and mobility engineers,” said Hemphill. “I’ve been involved with CAR in one way or another for two decades and it was always clear to me that there was some magic happening there. It’s a huge honor to be recognized by such a talented and successful group.”
Qadeer Ahmed, a research associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is the recipient of the SAE Forest R. McFarland Award.
This award is given to individuals in recognition of their outstanding contributions to SAE Engineering events by way of planning, developing and disseminating technical information through meetings, events and other professional development programs.
Ahmed has been engaged in SAE World Congress, SAE COMVEC and the Vehicle Cybersecurity Workshop at SAE Government and Industry Meetings.
“This award is an appreciation of my engagement with SAE activities,” said Ahmed. “It enables me to reach out to key experts in the industry and establish a good repute.”
Deb Banerjee, a PhD candidate in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) was selected as a recipient of The Ohio State University Presidential Fellowship.
The fellowship is given to students who “embody
the highest standards of scholarship” in the graduate programs at the university going into the last stages of their dissertation research or terminal degree project.
“Deb’s incredible appetite for original knowledge coupled with his immense determination will always take him to new heights in his scientific journey,” said Banerjee’s advisor, Professor Ahmet Selamet. “The university’s recognition of Deb’s young accomplishments through this fellowship makes me happy for him.”
Pranav Sriganesh, a PhD candidate and student of Professor Ahmet Selamet, earned first place in the 2021 SAE Noise and Vibration Conference and Exhibition, Student Paper Competition for his paper titled “Circumferential Variation of Noise at the Blade-Pass Frequency in a Turbocharger Compressor with Ported Shroud.”
Sriganesh also won the Student Paper Competition Award for his paper titled “Silencer for HighFrequency Turbocharger Compressor Noise via an Acoustic Straightener” from The Institute of Noise Control Engineering.
“I am honored to receive these recognitions and I am very grateful for the support from Professor Selamet and Dr. Rick Dehner, who provided advice and guidance on these papers,” said Sriganesh.
CAR Graduate Research Associate Daniel Seals placed first for his National Science Foundation poster in the Research Experience for Undergraduates category at American Society of Mechanical Engineer’s International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition.
Seals research focused on linking two types of widely used battery modeling techniques, physics-based electrochemical
models and empirical Equivalent Circuit Models (ECMs).
“I’m proud of what I was able to accomplish in my undergraduate research, and this recognition further validates all the hard work put into making it happen,” said Seals. “More than anything, I’m thankful to my research group and especially my advisor, Dr. Marcello Canova, for guiding me through my first research experience.”
Audrey Blizard, a graduate fellow in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is one of four new student liaisons approved by the ASME Energy System Technical Committee (ESTC).
“I am honored by this appointment and am very excited for the opportunity to help students get engaged in this community,” said Blizard.
Student liaisons are tasked to organize and execute one event or activity during 2022, which can be done in conjunction with conferences and other meetings, to help students in the Energy Systems area build a network of both industry and academia and support a culture of inclusion.
“This is a great opportunity for these four promising students to make a difference and create a network,” said Stephanie Stockar, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and incoming ESTC vice chair. “I am very excited that Audrey will be part of this group and looking forward to seeing her contribution to our Technical Committee.”
AhmedHemphill Banerjee Sriganesh Seals BlizardProfessor Ümit Özgüner is the recipient of the 2021 IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society Lifetime Achievement Award.
Even more special, Özgüner was the founding President of the IEEE ITS Council, which turned into the IEEE ITS Society in 2005.
The professor remains active as faculty emeritus with Ohio State’s Electrical and Computer Engineering program and is current Transportation Research Center Chair in Intelligent Transportation Systems. He is also director of the Crash Imminent Safety University Transportation Center.
The award is given annually for researchers, practitioners and development in place to recognize for exemplary contributions to Intelligent Transportation Systems.
Professor Stephanie Stockar has been selected as a recipient of the 2021 Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award. The award, presented by SAE International, recognizes young engineering educators working to prepare students for careers in industry.
Stockar said that the recognition will be motivation to her, as she continues educating students, and preparing them to be the next generation of leaders in the automotive and transportation industries.
“[The award] speaks to the ability of the students and instructors to adapt to changes. think in engineering, lifelong learning is a crucial
skill and this past year has been a test for that,” said Stockar.
Stockar has also been awarded the College of Engineering Lumley Research Award for her research contribution in the broad area of optimization and control of multi-scale, multi-physics systems. Her research supports the energy efficiency and sustainability of the transportation sector and the built environment.
CAR Research Scientist Matilde D’Arpino
received the College of Engineering Lumley Research Award. She has worked on projects relating to power conversion and energy storage systems for automotive, aviation, space and grid connected systems.
“Great research is done in a team,” said D’Arpino. “The award has my name on it, but it feels like the award is more so for the great group of people I have been working with these last five years.”
Lisa Fiorentini, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, received the College of Engineering Ohio StateHonda Partnership Award in recognition of her crucial role in establishing a relationship between The Ohio State University master’s program and Honda.
In her 17 years at Ohio State, Fiorentini has done work in many different areas of electrical engineering, from research in aerospace control systems with the Air Force Research Lab and NASA, to powertrain control and autonomous driving research with CAR.
In recognition of his exceptional engineering achievements and contributions to the engineering profession, Giorgio Rizzoni has been elected a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He has been professionally active with the Dynamic Systems and Control Division of ASME for over 30 years, having served in multiple roles, most notably as Chair of the Division in 2003-04.
Rizzoni’s work is referenced internationally, and he is considered a pioneer and leader in the study of optimal control methods for hybrid electric vehicles, and of life estimation in electrochemical batteries.
“I am truly honored by this recognition from the leadership of one of the most distinguished professional societies in engineering,” said Rizzoni.
Athar Hanif was elevated to a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Senior member is the highest professional grade of IEEE and requires extensive experience and reflects professional accomplishment and maturity. Only 10% of more than 400,000 IEEE members have achieved this level.
Hanif is a senior research associate engineer at the Center for Automotive Research. His research is focused primarily on powertrain control, power electronics converters and their control and electric drive systems.
“I am deeply privileged by IEEE to recognize me as a senior member,” said Hanif. “This will help me connect with other researchers in my area of expertise across the world and work together for the benefit of underserved communities.”
Recent graduate Ye Cheng along with CAR Research Scientist Matilde D’Arpino and CAR Director Giorgio
Rizzoni received the Best Paper Award at the 2022 IEEE/AIAA Transportation Electrification Conference and Electric Aircraft Technologies Symposium.
The paper, titled “Fault Diagnosis in Lithium-ion Battery of Hybrid Electric Aircraft based on Structural Analysis” presents a diagnostic scheme for Lithium-ion battery systems of hybrid electric aircraft with specific focus on diagnosing short circuit faults and sensor faults to ensure system availability and functionality.
“I’m very thrilled and honored to receive the Electrified Aircraft Technologies Symposium Best Paper Awards at ITEC+EATS 2022,” said Cheng. “It is a good indication that our team did a great job, it is recognized and will inspire future work.”
Özgüner Stockar D’Arpino Fiorentini Rizzoni Hanif ChengMechanical behavior of polymers, bio-materials, and polymer-based composites, deformation processing of polymers, biological tissue engineering
dupaix.1@osu.edu
Rotorcraft aeromechanics, bluff body wake control, and development of advanced measurement techniques gregory.234@osu.edu
Additive manufacturing groeber.1@osu.edu
Vehicle dynamics and vehicle design guenther.1@osu.edu
Energy conversion and storage systems for automotive applications
guezennec.1@osu.edu
Automotive control and mechatronics, autonomous road vehicles, cooperative mobility, robust control guvenc.1@osu.edu
Thermal properties of matter and applications to energy conversion heremans.1@osu.edu
Donald Houser
Gear and power transmissions houser.4@osu.edu
Energy storage, batteries and fuel cells
kim.6776@osu.edu
Turbulent combustion
kim.5061@osu.edu
Computational fluid dynamics, reacting flows with applications in combustion, catalytic conversion, fuel cells and chemical vapor deposition, thermal radiation, non-equilibrium transport phenomena
maumder.2@osu.edu
Shawn Midlam-Mohler
Model-based design of complex systems, advanced automotive powertrain systems
midlam-mohler.1@osu.edu
System dynamics, measurements, control and fault diagnosis with application to automotive systems
rizzoni.1@osu.edu
Internal combustion engines, acoustics, noise control, combustion, heat transfer and fluid dynamics
selamet.1@osu.edu
Acoustics, machine dynamics, vibrations, non-linear dynamics and signal processing
singh.3@osu.edu
Computational solid mechanics
soghrati.1@osu.edu
Energy system control and optimization
stockar.1@osu.edu
Creates programmable structures that resemble life using ion transport, coupled mechanics and electron transport in redox active materials
sundaresan.19@osu.edu
David Talbot
Gear, bearing, and power transmission system efficiency modeling and measuremen
talbot.112@osu.edu
Systems modeling, control, model based design and prognosis of complex engineering systems
tulpule.3@osu.edu
CFD analysis of aerodynamics, acoustics, heat transfer, combustion and hemodynamics
wang.8516@osu.edu
Theory and applications of control systems
yurkovich.1@osu.edu
Molecular biology in the service of public health kwiek.2@osu.edu
Materials science with a concentration in superconductive, electronic, and magnetic materials sumption.3@osu.edu
› Giorgio Rizzoni, Director
› Marcello Canova, Associate Director
› David Cooke, Sr. Associate Director
› Meg Dick, Assistant Director
Materials science collings.2@osu.edu
Katrina Cornish
Bio-based emergent materials, natural rubber biosynthesis and production cornish.19@osu.edu
Glenn Daehn
Materials science, manufacturing, metal forming, materials processing pratola.1@osu.edu
Energy storage and conversion doan-nguyen.1@osu.edu
Alan Luo
Light materials and manufacturing luo.445@osu.edu
Electrion microscopy and analysis mccomb.2@osu.edu
Innovation and translating science into products through applied research and polymer engineering science sayre.17@osu.edu
Hearing science, driver behavior weisenberger.21@osu.edu
Nicole D. Sintov
Environmental psychology sintov.2@osu.edu
› Chris Atkinson, Director of Smart Mobility Initiative at OSU
› Stacy Hillstrom, Program Assistant
› Stacy Wilson, Fiscal Associate
› Jackie Wolfe, Grants Coordinator
› Sarah Vanadia, Associate Fiscal Officer
› Lance Grimes, HR Consultant
› Marianne Weber, Distance Education Manager
› Danny Freudiger, Instructional Development Specialist
› David Emerling, Industry Collaborations Director
› Colleen Herr, Marketing and Communications Specialist
› Jennifer Humphrey, Events and Outreach Manager
› Jim Shively, Lab Technician
› Bill Sparks, Test Technician
› Max Wright, Student Projects Shop Supervisor
› Darrin Orr, Facilities Manager
› Joseph West, Senior Design Engineer
Development of modern statistical methodology for inferential and predictive applications pratola.1@osu.edu
› Adithya Jayakumar*, Senior Lecturer
› Anna Misley, Post Doctoral Scholar
› Antonello Bianco*, Senior Researcher
› Athar Hanif*, Senior Research Associate
› BJ Yurkovich*, Research Specialist
› Cam Giang, Research Associate - Engineer
› CG Cantemir*, Research Scientist
› David Perez, Research Associate - Engineer
› Dennis Kibalama, Research Associate - Engineer
› Ekim Yurtsever, Research Associate – Engineer
› Emel Selamet, Research Scientist
› Faissal El Idrissi, Research Associate – Engineer
› Gary Heydinger, Research Scientist
› Jeff Chrstos*, Research Scientist
› Kaveh Khodadadi Sadabadi, Research Associate - Engineer
› Manfredi Villani, Research Associate – Engineer
› Matilde D’Arpino*, Research Scientist
› Prashanth Ramesh, Lead Engineer
› Ricky Dehner*, Research Scientist
› Walt Dudek, Principal Engineer
› Xiaoling Chen, Research Associate – Engineer
› Beth-Anne Schuelke-Leech, Visiting Scholar
› Emanuele Gravante, Visiting Scholar
› Matteo Spano, Visiting Scholar
› Michael Alexander-Ramos, Visiting Scholar
› Rahan Khan, Visiting Scholar
› Stefano D’Alessandro, Visiting Scholar
› Vinith Lakshmanan, Visiting Scholar
› Daniele Beltrami, Visiting Scholar
› Dawoon Jang, Visiting Scholar
Address: 930 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH 43212
Phone: 614-292-5990
Fax: 614-688-4111
Email: car@osu.edu
Online: car.osu.edu go.osu.edu/CARLinkedIn Facebook.com/OSUCenterforAutomotiveResearch @OSUCtrAutoRsrch