Electrical & Computer Engineering Seminar Series

1. Electrical & Computer EngineeringSeminar Series Dr. Alan L. Browne General Motors Research & Development Warren, MIThursday, Nov 13, 2008 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. 1234 Engineering Building “Mechamatronics and the Automotive Industry ” Abstract The automobile today is primarily a mechanical system focused on the conversion of energy from a variety of forms into mechanical effort and desired motion. Consequently, automobile designers and engineers have traditionally taken mechanically-oriented approaches to solving problems or enhancing the performance and functionality of the automobile. Unfortunately, this way of looking at problems limits the options available and in some cases has restricted solutions to those more bulky, massive, inflexible and expensive than would otherwise be desired. Expanding the solution domain beyond the purview of traditional mechanical approaches can enhance the realization of more optimal solutions. This presentation introduces the notion that “Mechamatronics,” the integration of mechanical systems, smart materials and electronics, offers new degrees-of-freedom for achieving this goal. Mechamatronics is evolving from high-end, one of kind products for medical, military and aerospace applications to the point of viability for mainstream, high yield/low cost products for automotive applications. For the automotive industry, there are significant potential benefits to be realized including reduction in vehicle mass, added design flexibility and reduction in component size and cost. This presentation will give an historical overview of the use of smart materials in the automotive industry, describe many of the smart materials based applications under consideration, and review GM’s approach to transitioning the technology into actual products. Biography Dr. Alan L. Browne is currently a GM Technical Fellow doing automotive related research at General Motors Research & Development (GMR&D). Dr. Browne received his PhD Degree from Northwestern University in 1971 and has spent his entire professional career spanning 38 years as a researcher at GMR&D. His research activities have spanned a wide range of engineering disciplines and technology and application fields. Areas of research and technical expertise include most recently Smart Devices Based on Active Materials (1998 - present) in which the principal focus has been on developing automotive applications of smart materials including MR fluids, SMA’s, SMP’s, and EAP’s. Other research areas and interests include Occupant Crash Protection & Vehicle Crashworthiness, Applications of Composite Materials to the Primary Vehicle Structure, Tire Traction, and Tire Rolling Resistance. He has 105 technical publications and 68 issued United States patents. He is an active member of ASME (Fellow), SAE, ASTM (F-9 and member at large of E-17), the American Society of Composites (member-at-large, chair of Applications Division and chair of the PhD Scholarship Committee), the Tire Society in which he served until this year as an associate editor of Tire Science and Technology, a past many year member of the Automotive Composites Consortium, and a current reviewer for multiple technical journals. Dr. Browne is the recipient of the H. W. Kummer Award from Committee E-17 of ASTM, an Award of Excellence from the Composites Institute in 1997, the GM 2000 John M. Campbell Award, the 2004 D. R. Harting Award from the Society for Experimental Mechanics, and the GM Master Inventor Award (2006) Faculty host: Dr. Xiaobo Tan - (xbtan@egr.msu.edu)