 | spartanburg business & community directory |
|
The Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) Friday announced INTEC U.S. Inc., a German software company headquartered in Munich (INTEC GmbH), has selected the CU-ICAR campus as headquarters for its first U.S. presence. A technology leader in software for the automotive industry, INTEC will provide multi-body and real-time simulation software to CU-ICAR graduate students and professors.
“The new environment we see being created here at CU-ICAR, the academic research coupled with industrial partnership, creates tremendous collaboration potential. It is the environment we want to be in to introduce our products and services to the automotive sector and other industries in the United States,” said INTEC founder and President Alex Eichberger. INTEC’s SIMPACK software will support the development of mechanical or mechatronic devices. It can be used for such simple mechanisms as door latches or complex full-vehicle models that include cars, airplanes, wind turbines, trains and engines. It is currently being used by such companies as BMW, Daimler, Bombardier and Bosch. “This is cutting-edge technology in automotive and aerospace design,” said mechanical engineering chairman and professor Imtiaz Haque. “We will be able to do virtual prototyping and testing research that will support the auto industry in developing processes that get vehicles to market more efficiently with greater cost-savings.” “SIMPACK will aid in the advancement of the emerging area known as mechatronics,” said John Ziegert, the Timken Chair in Automotive Design and Development and professor of mechanical engineering. “It’s the combination of mechanics, electronics, control engineering and computing that makes it possible to attain simpler, more economical, reliable and versatile systems.” INTEC hopes to spawn 15 software technology jobs at its CU-ICAR campus location in the next five years. The South Carolina Department of Commerce and the state of South Carolina have partnered with Clemson to recruit investment and build CU-ICAR to be an economic development agent utilizing Clemson’s strengths in automotive engineering to grow the state’s automotive industry and related fields “INTEC’s advanced-technology application spans both basic and complex mechanisms and is being used by automotive leaders throughout the world,” said South Carolina Department of Commerce Secretary Joe Taylor. “The company’s decision to locate in South Carolina further demonstrates the strengths of our state’s economy and the potential towards growing South Carolina’s knowledge-based economy with high-tech and high-paying jobs.”
CU-ICAR is a 250-acre “technopolis” where BMW, Michelin, Timken, Sun Microsystems and other corporate partners are joining with Clemson to focus on automotive research and other transportation and advanced-manufacturing issues. The state of South Carolina also is a key partner, having created legislation to support economic development and innovation. For example, the Research Centers of Economic Excellence Endowed Chairs Program matches private funding to recruit top faculty. CU-ICAR has four endowed chairs created through the program. Three of these chairs, along with five junior faculty positions, have been filled. These faculty members, along with other faculty from the main campus, form the academic team for one of the nation’s most exceptional master’s and doctoral degree programs in automotive engineering. The doctoral program is one of the first in the country. (Image provided by Clemson University.)
|
CU-ICAR is a new model for economic development in South Carolina, matching Clemson’s strengths in automotive engineering with the state’s strong automotive economic cluster. Located in the heart of the Interstate 85 corridor, midway between Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta, Ga., CU-ICAR is ideally situated in the Southeastern automotive and motorsports economy.
