Diesel research centre receives $1.4 million federal boost
A UWindsor automotive scientist’s plan for a new research centre to improve vehicle efficiency and fuel economy—and reduce harmful emissions—received a $1.4 million nod from the Canada Foundation for Innovation.
Ming Zheng, a professor of mechanical, automotive and materials engineering, is the lead investigator at the Centre for High Efficiency Clean Diesel and Hybrid Powertrain Research, which was awarded $1,438,631 at a ceremony in Ottawa last week.
“This is a significant amount of funding that will allow Dr. Zheng to expand on his extremely important work,” said Dean of Engineering Graham Reader. “Developing greener technologies such as improved diesel and hybrid engines is crucial to the health of the automotive sector, especially as governments enact stricter emissions standards.”
The new centre will expand on the work of the university’s Clean Diesel Research Laboratory, said Zheng, an AUTO21 researcher who holds a Canada Research Chair in Clean Diesel Engine Technologies. The funding will help the centre improve diesel fuel efficiency with ultra-low emissions by adaptive combustion control, exhaust after-treatment methods, innovative engineering design and diesel-based hybrid electric drive-train configurations, he said. It will be located in the Centre for Automotive Research and Education on California Avenue.
“Dr. Zheng’s research is truly world-class,” said Ranjana Bird, Vice-President Research. “We are very pleased and excited about the potential it holds for bringing a competitive infrastructure to the region.”
Funding for the project is part of a $666-million investment announced by the foundation to support 133 projects at 41 institutions across the country. It comes from the New Initiatives Fund to enhance Canada’s capacity in promising new areas of research and technology.
The foundation is an independent corporation created by the federal government to strengthen the country's research capacity. Its president, Eliot Phillipson, said its support of infrastructure has transformed Canada’s research landscape.
“Investments like these have allowed the University of Windsor to become a destination of choice for some of the world’s top research talent,” he said.
Article is courtesy of the Daily News - Monday, June 29, 2009