Ford-MIT
Alliance
The Ford Motor Company and MIT are addressing an array of 21st
century challenges that confront the automotive manufacturer through
an innovative program begun in 1997.
The Ford-MIT Alliance, renewed through 2008, has created a model
for mutually beneficial university-corporate research. The alliance
has grown beyond the initial focus areas of environmental science
and policy, information technology in product development, virtual
teams, and education. New interests include specialized research
projects and two new program areas in active safety and powertrain
technology research. The research projects are also linked with
recruiting and MIT’s educational programs, enrolling engineers
and managers that bring new research knowledge back into Ford.
Key projects:
- The MIT/AGS Consortium on Environmental Challenges, an environmental
research center that supports integrated, cross-disciplinary teams.
- Development, testing, and implementation of DOME (Distributed
Object Modeling Environment) that allows engineers at automotive
companies and suppliers to use each others’ computer design
and modeling tools.
- Acceleration of the development of new 42 volt high-voltage
vehicle electrical system standards through the use of virtual
engineering concepts and global consensus.
- Initiation of active safety research projects that apply research
results from military and aerospace projects to smart automobiles,
with an awareness of vehicle occupants, environments, and threats.
- Read "Ford, MIT Renew Alliance
Through 2007" in Impact article for more information.
CTPID administers the grant and sustains several Ford-MIT projects.
CTPID Senior Research Scientist and Ford-MIT Alliance program area
manager for Product Development Process Technology Dan Whitney leads
a project on Information-Based Product Development that explores
appropriate information technology tools for synthesizing complex
information in product development programs.
As a partner in this Institute-wide initiative, CTPID supports
10-15 researchers working on Ford-MIT projects.
Outreach
MIT faculty involved in the Ford/MIT Collaboration use conferences,
video conferences, web sites, and virtual forums to communicate
the results of this work to both Ford and the public.
Faculty and staff
Phillip L. Clay,
Director; MIT Chancellor
John B.
Heywood, Co-Director, Sun Jae Professor of Mechanical Engineering;
Director, Sloan Automotive Lab
Simon Pitts, Executive
Director, Ford Motor Company
Elaine Savage , Executive
Director, MIT
Anuradha
M. Annaswamy, Senior Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering
Gerbrand
Ceder, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
Gang Chen,
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Wai K.
Cheng, Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Joseph
F. Coughlin, Director, Age Lab; Director New England University
Transportation Center; MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics
Munther A. Dahleh,
Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Trevor
J. Darrell, Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science
Thomas W. Eagar, Professor,
Materials Science and Engineering
Daniel
Frey, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
James
R. Glass, Principal Research Scientist, Computer Science and
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Robert
J. Hansman, Jr., Professor, Aeronautics and Astronautics
Howard J.
Herzog, Principal Research Engineer, MIT Energy Initiative
Yang
Shao-Horn, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Karl Iagnemma, Principal Research Scientist, Mechanical Engineering
Leslie Kaelbling,
Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
John Leonard, Professor,
Mechanical Engineering
Christopher
L. Magee, Director Center for Innovation in Product Development,
Professor of the Practice, Mechanical Engineering
Gareth H. McKinley, Professor,
Mechanical Engineering
Ruth Rosenholtz, Principal
Research Scientist, Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Joel E.
Schindall, Professor of the Practice, Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science, Associate Director of Laboratory for Electromagnetic
and Electronic Systems
John Sterman, Professor,
Director of System Dynamics Group, Sloan
Seth Teller, Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Daniel
E. Whitney, Senior Research Scientist, CTPID
Sponsor
Ford Motor Company
Program Links: CMP
| Ford-MIT
| IMVP | LAI
| LARA | LSI
| MSL | MITIQ
| T&L
|
