UT has received an in-kind software grant from Siemens PLM Software estimated at $37 million for use in the College of Engineering.
The grant gives students access to the same technology used by automotive manufacturers, aerospace developers, and high-tech electronics companies.
At UT, the software will by used by the EcoCAR3 program led by Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering Research Associate Professor David “Butch” Irick, who serves as faculty advisor for the team.
“It is certainly no understatement to say that a grant of this nature is a major boost,” said Wayne Davis, dean of the College of Engineering. “This will certainly make a difference to the efforts of Butch Irick and his students working on EcoCAR3.”
The software—specifically NX™ software for computer-aided engineering and Teamcenter® for Product Lifecycle Management, or PLM—will be used by UT’s EcoCar3 team as it begins the first year of its competition. PLM software does exactly what the name implies by helping oversee the life of a product from the drawing board to eventual retirement.
Irick and his students have participated in all but one of the Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions over the past twenty years, and contributions such as Siemens’ have proved critical over that time.
“Having support like this grant makes taking part in the EcoCAR competition a reality,” said Irick. “It would be extremely challenging, to say the least, without the generosity of companies like Siemens.”
Siemens PLM Software’s academic program encourages teaching and development across academic levels.
An in-kind grant serves as a way for corporations to provide much-needed resources or material to programs by eliminating the extra step of having to use traditional monetary grants for purchasing.
For Siemens, supporting programs like UT’s provides the added benefit of ensuring that the best and brightest students in the U.S. have a better chance to compete with those from universities around the world.
“Siemens PLM Software is dedicated to helping develop the next generation of highly trained and highly qualified engineers and technologists,” said Bill Boswell, the company’s senior director of partner strategy. “Our academic partnership with UT encourages students to pursue careers that will revitalize manufacturing in the U.S. and around the world.”
The EcoCAR3 competition is focused on the ability of university teams to take a Chevrolet Camaro and convert it into a hybrid vehicle without sacrificing any of the “muscle car” persona that the auto conveys.
UT is one of sixteen schools in the competition, which pairs engineering students with business and communications students as part of the overall team goal of designing, marketing, and advertising the vehicle.
Teamcenter and NX are trademarks or registered trademarks of Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries.
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C O N T A C T :
David Goddard (865-974-0683, david.goddard@utk.edu)