The Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) is a public-private initiative with commitments of more than $215 million, putting Clemson well on the way to building the premier automotive and motorsports research and educational program in the world.

The technologies necessary to design and build today's automobiles are becoming increasingly complex and are requiring entirely new skill sets for engineers. As a result, there are fewer and fewer qualified automotive engineering students in the United States.

CU-ICAR's objectives are to educate a work force focused on current and future needs of industry; foster innovation and development of technologies for the benefit of manufacturers, suppliers and consumers worldwide; and create high-paying jobs.

Anchoring the 250-acre Greenville campus is the Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Graduate Engineering Center, which will focus on M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs in automotive engineering with an emphasis on systems integration—the increasingly complex interaction of electrical, digital and mechanical technologies in automobiles and many other manufacturing platforms. CU-ICAR's master plan features a series of "technology neighborhoods" where faculty and students interact with engineers and others from industry partners to discuss real-world solutions to engineering problems.

Clemson's corporate partners in this project include BMW, Michelin, IBM, Microsoft and Timken.

To learn more, go to www.clemson.edu/autoresearch.

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