The Institute for Materials Research, based at the Ohio State University campus in Columbus, has received a $400,000 grant from the Alcoa Foundation to create lighter, more environmentally friendly vehicle structures.
The grant is one of ten announced in mid-June by the Pittsburgh-based Alcoa Foundation, as part of its two-year, $4 million initiative, Advancing Sustainability Research: Innovative Partnerships for Actionable Solutions.
Each of the ten grant recipients —located worldwide in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Russia, and the United States—will conduct a sustainability research project to “find answers to environmental issues that impact the quality of life and well-being of communities globally.”
“Alcoa strives to address environmental issues within our operations, across our industry and within our communities,” said Paula Davis, president, Alcoa Foundation. “This research will be used as a tool to rally communities and thought leaders into action. Alcoa sustainability experts and volunteers will also work with our partners and communities to ensure that the research is used to inform the public on corporate policy, new technologies, and methodologies that can be adapted and replicated by others. ”
In the U.S. initiative, Professor Glenn S. Daehn of Ohio State’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering will serve as project lead, with Professor Anthony Luscher in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering serving as co-investigator.
“There is a growing recognition that the lightest weight and most affordable vehicles in the future will not be made from one material, but many different ones,” said Daehn. “Alcoa Foundation is providing us with support for this important research and giving students the opportunity to experience first-hand the challenges and triumphs of materials development in a real-world environment.”
Daehn notes a pressing need to reduce the mass of all classes of wheeled vehicles, including light automobiles, trucks, and passenger busses. “Mass reduction directly improves fuel economy and is especially important to electric and alternative powertrains.”
According to Luscher, vehicles in the future will need to have unique structural designs in order to achieve these weight savings. “The Alcoa Foundation grant will allow us to study new and innovative joining strategies that are tailored to each material combination and each loading type,” he said. “The whole system of joints needs to work together to be efficient.”
The Institute for Materials Research, working closely with Profs. Daehn and Luscher, will help engender this industrywide change by educating engineers-in-training and practicing engineers on a holistic approach to multi-materials structural joining.
“Alcoa and The Ohio State University have a long-standing relationship,” said Kevin Kramer, President, Growth Initiatives, Alcoa. “We are pleased to support this important research with the talented material science students and researchers at the University. “This program will help extend and develop sustainable design and manufacturing technologies that leverage large-scale production.”
Alcoa Foundation funding will also support undergraduate and graduate students and faculty to allow the Ohio State team to develop one-day short courses on forming technology; demonstrations of unconventional, inexpensive, structural and novel manufacturing methods; and the production of archival publications.
The research will be completed in 2012 and 2013. Milestones and results will be published online, shared with the sustainability community and discussed and used among researchers, communities and stakeholders throughout the two years.
In addition to supporting the Ohio State University’s research, Alcoa Foundation’s Advancing Sustainability Research: Innovative Partnerships for Actionable Solutions initiative has provided grants to the following partners:
Australia
- Toward Sustainable Landscapes: Phosphorous Management to Protect Wetlands – Greening Australia, University of Western Australia
- Toward Sustainable Landscapes: Harnessing Bioenergy Markets to Build Resilient Landscapes– Greening Australia, University of Adelaide, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
Brazil
- Mangrove Environmental Education and Research–-University of São Paulo
Canada
- Improved Environmental Footprint Methodology for Life Cycle Assessment–- École Polytechnique de Montréal
China
- Voluntary Emissions Reduction and NGO Participation in China – China Center for International Economic Exchanges , Tsinghua University
- Chinese Public Policy: Promoting a Low-Carbon Economy – China Center for International Economic Exchanges
Europe
- Advanced Research in Energy and Environmental Economics– University of Vigo, Economics for Energy
Russia
- Responsible Water Resources Management for Sustainable Development –- Fund for Sustainable Development, Institute of Water Problems, Educational Center for Ecology and Safety
Global
- SMART: New Mobility Solutions for Beijing and Detroit – University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, SMART (Sustainable Mobility & Accessibility Research & Transformation
For more information, visit the Aloca website.
Cheryl Kaften is an accomplished communicator who has written for consumer and corporate audiences. She has worked extensively for MasterCard (News - Alert) Worldwide, Philip Morris USA (Altria), and KPMG, and has consulted for Estee Lauder and the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspapers. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Rich Steeves
