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The University of Michigan's proximity to the world's automotive capital, along with a wide array of Research Centers, Laboratories and Institutes, provides a strong base for Automotive Research. The following are examples of research topics currently pursued by faculty members:

• Automotive Manufacturing Systems and Processes
  • Reconfigurable manufacturing systems
  • Manufacturing automation, system design, and operation
  • Sensing and Control in manufacturing systems
  • Intelligent laser welding and processing
  • Sheet metal forming
  • Human motion simulation
• Automotive Materials: Metals, Polymers, and Adhesives
  • Aluminum alloys and AI matrix composites
  • Adhesive joints
  • Plastics for body and energy management
  • Structural polymer composites
  • Low-cost polymer composite processing
• Automotive Supply Chain Management and Analysis
  • The shift to modular vehicle design and manufacturer-supplier integration in product development
  • Supplier involvement in product development
  • Lean supply chain management
• Engine Combustion and Emission Modeling, Simulation, and Testing
  • Mixture formation, combustion, and pollutant formation in an SI direct-injection engine
  • Conventional and DVT transmission models
  • SI direct-injection control strategies for low emission
  • SI PFI control strategies for early catalyst light-off and reduced cold-state emission
• Alternative Fuel Vehicles
  • Optimization-based design of hybrid electric vehicle systems
  • Energy management for low emission
  • Hydrogen-based energy systems (fuel cells, processors, etc.)
• Intelligent Transportation Systems and Transportation System Planning
  • Smart sensors, wireless communications
  • Evaluation of SMART intelligent transportation system
• Occupant Safety and Modeling
  • Occupant dynamics modeling; in-vehicle human motion simulation
  • Child occupant-protection use survey
  • Prevention of occupant injuries in collisions
  • Pupil safety on transit bus systems
  • Avoiding rear-end collisions
  • Psychosocial correlates of adolescent driving behaviors
• Transportation Infrastructure
  • Highway embankments
  • Bridge abutments
  • Geosynthetic reinforcement of pavements
  • Fiber-reinforced concrete and soil
• Vehicle Design and Simulation
  • Crashworthiness: interior energy absorption
  • Crashworthiness: material design
  • Structural noise, vibration, harshness
  • Body design
  • Vehicle dynamics simulation

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