Engineering students are revved up about a valuable donation that will support improvements of their project building at the Ohio State University’s Center for Automotive Research (CAR).
The DENSO North America Foundation has contributed $25,000 to support the ongoing renovation of a 1,000-square-foot office space in the building. The offices, which are in the main CAR building separate from the students’ work areas, will be more accessible to students once they are relocated to the projects building.
“We’re going to be moving our offices out here so everything will be a lot closer,” said Olivia Masters, a speech and hearing science major who is the student business leader for the Formula SAE team. The new office area will include dedicated spaces for each team, new windows, air conditioning, Internet connections and necessary office machines.
Multiple automotive teams use the facility to work on nearly every aspect � from design to building to testing � of their projects, which include the EcoCAR, in which students modify a Saturn Vue for reduced environmental impact; Formula SAE, a mini formula-style race car used in worldwide competitions; Buckeye Bullet 2, the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell-powered land speed streamliner; and the Baja SAE, a mini off-road vehicle.
DENSO, one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, has supported CAR and the student project teams since 2002.
“As DENSO places a great emphasis on education, it’s important for us to support organizations, like CAR, that offer students hands-on activities that apply to the real world,” said Bill Steffan, senior vice president of DENSO International America Inc. and president of the DENSO North America Foundation.
With the help of DENSO and other donors to CAR, the student automotive teams have been fairly secure in financing their vehicle projects. “Ohio State has been viewed as one of the better funded, better organized universities at competitions,” said CAR director Giorgio Rizzoni.
Student project team members and faculty alike are thrilled about the renovation. “It’s a great facility to have everyone so close,” said Jason Balser, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student and captain of the Formula SAE team.
In 2002, the company donated $30,000 to renovate the Graduate Students’ Electronics Lab, and recently it contributed $75,000 to the Buckeye Bullet and Challenge X, the predecessor of the EcoCAR, for vehicle parts and shop equipment. The Formula SAE team has just been awarded $2,500 from DENSO for its upcoming season.
Darrin Orr, Center for Automotive Research, orr.140@osu.edu, (614) 688-5925 Sept. 9, 2008
