U of I Part of New $21 Million Research Center

Discovering ways to reduce fuel consumption, developing devices for people with mobility impairments and designing state-of-the-art rescue robots are just three of the goals of a new multimillion dollar research center involving the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently announced a $15 million, five-year grant to support the new Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power. Industry partners will augment NSF funding with $3 million, and seven universities involved in the center will contribute an additional $3 million. The center will be based at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus.

"This center will advance fundamental knowledge, providing a platform for technology that will spawn new industries. We are impressed with the ambitious goals of the center for research and education, and the strong partnership with industry," said Lynn Preston, leader of the Engineering Research Centers Program at NSF.

"Back in the 1950s and 1960s, the United States led the world in fluid-power research, but Europe and Asia have passed us by," added Kim Stelson, director of the new center and mechanical engineering professor at the University of Minnesota. "We hope that this new center will get us back on track in this growing field."

Fluid-power technology encompasses most applications that use liquids or gases to transmit power in the form of pressurized fluid. The complexity of these systems ranges from a simple hydraulic jack used to lift your car when replacing at tire to sophisticated airplane flight control actuators that rely on high-pressure hydraulic systems. Fluid power is a $33 billion industry worldwide. Industry areas include aerospace, agriculture, construction, health care, manufacturing, mining and transportation.

With help from the National Fluid Power Association, more than 50 companies have agreed to provide support for the research center. The unprecedented level of support by major global corporations serves to highlight the immediate research needs in this area as well as the level of impact that can be expected from the center's accomplishments. Most of the industry sponsors agree that critical advances need to be made in the field. While most of the industry sponsors represent traditional engineering applications, they are looking to the ERC to develop new technologies and scientific breakthroughs that will enable entirely new markets.

Researchers at the center will study ways to use fluid power more efficiently in manufacturing, agriculture, construction and mining. Each 10 percent improvement in efficiency of current uses of fluid power in these industries will save about $7 billion a year in U.S. energy costs. Researchers will also work to develop hydraulic-hybrid passenger cars that are less expensive and more efficient than current electric hybrids. A 10 percent improvement in efficiency in national passenger-car energy use will save about $10 billion a year.

Another goal of the research center is to develop portable, wearable and autonomous fluid-power devices capable of operating for long periods of time without external energy sources. This technology could lead to new medical and rehabilitation devices and robots that could be used in rescue missions.

"The work at Illinois will advance the science and engineering of these systems, both at smaller scales and when interacting directly with humans," said Andrew Alleyne, professor of mechanical engineering at Illinois. "We are excited about integrating our unique expertise in fluid mechanics, control and dynamical systems, and biomechanics with the multidisciplinary interests of faculty from the other institutions involved in the center."

In addition to research, the center will be involved in developing youth education programs, improving efforts to increase student diversity in engineering, designing internship and exchange programs for undergraduate and graduate students, and offering short courses and labs for industry workers.

Core universities involved in the center are the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Georgia Institute of Technology, Purdue University and Vanderbilt University. Outreach universities include the Milwaukee School of Engineering and North Carolina A&T State University. Outreach institutions include the National Fluid Power Association, Project Lead the Way, and the Science Museum of Minnesota.

NSF-funded Engineering Research Centers conduct pioneering research in emerging technologies and train the next generation of engineers to be leaders in innovation. Each center, while based at one university, is a collaborative partnership drawing together individuals and resources from other universities, industry partners, and pre-college teachers and students.