CCe-FP Newsletter
Current Newsletter - Issue 12
From the Director
From the Director
In its first three years the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power has transformed fluid power research in this country from isolated efforts at a few universities to a cohesive, strategically-directed collaborative team spanning seven universities.
Research Highlights
New Collaboration with Ford Motor Company
CCEFP is collaborating with Ford Motor Co. (a Michigan based automobile manufacturer) and Folsom Technologies International (a New York based company with expertise in hydraulic transmission) on the generation 2 platform for the hydraulic hybrid vehicle test bed.
Research to Increase Fluid Power Energy Storage Density
It is well known that fluid power has unsurpassed actuation power density compared to other approaches such as electric motors. In the area of energy storage, hydraulic accumulators can also accommodate much higher storage and regeneration powers than electric batteries.
Activities
CCEFP Student Retreat
The Student Leadership Council continues to efficiently and effectively bring students together from the seven different universities into compact rooms. To build on last year’s success, with the hope of interacting with more industry members, this year’s student retreat will be held just prior to the NFPA Economic Outlook Conference in Chicago.
Save the Date
The CCEFP will hold its Annual Meeting at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina on October 7 – 9, 2009.
Outreach
Learning by Doing - Industry Helps
Hats off to Donaldson Company, Inc.! The company has just awarded a $15,000 grant to the University of Minnesota’s Department of Mechanical Engineering to support the CCEFP’s hands-on pneumatic workshop, a key initiative in the Center’s Education and Outreach project portfolio.
Communication
New Strategies to Improve Communication
Throughout the latter part of 2008 and the early part of this year, efforts at the CCEFP towards obtaining NSF renewal were, by necessity, our top priority. But during that time, we also had several opportunities to hear from our members about our communications efforts which frankly, were not meeting expectations. As a result, the CCEFP made the decision to redirect significant resources and emphasis towards improving those efforts both externally and throughout our internal CCEFP network.