Michigan State to Dedicate Auto Research Lab

August 21st, 2007

Dedication ceremonies will be held this week for a new Michigan State University research facility aimed at improving automobile engine efficiency; reducing energy consumption; and developing cheaper, cleaner sources of energy. The official opening of the Energy & Automotive Research Laboratories will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 24. Tours of the building begin at 9:30 a.m.

The facility is located at Service Road and Bogue Street, adjacent to the existing Engineering Research Complex, just south of the Clinical Center and the Life Sciences Building on MSU’s campus.

The focus of research in the new $10 million, 29,000-square-foot facility will be on improving automobile engine efficiency, reducing vehicle emissions and exploring alternative energy sources. Features of the new research complex include a powertrain lab and two engine test cells – one of which can accommodate a large SUV or small military vehicle. The complex also will have a cold room to test engine turnover in temperatures of 40 degrees below zero. With the opening of this facility, MSU joins an elite group of universities with these types of laboratories.

Nearly half of the financial support for the facility was provided by individual and corporate donors, including the Richard H. Brown Foundation, Consumers Energy Foundation, Ford Motor Co. Fund, Hallenbeck Construction Co. Inc., Roy H. and Dawn I. Link, James B. McKeon and John D. and Dortha J. Withrow. The MSU Office of the Provost and the College of Engineering provided funding as well.

Entry Filed under: Test Labs