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May 07May 15, 2003
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This Week:

• Lightning Strikes As Centenary Concept Demonstrates Vauxhall Renaissance

• 7G-TRONIC: Mercedes-Benz presents the world's first seven-speed automatic transmission for passenger cars

• Toyota V8 Engine Production Begins In Alabama

• BMW Group Sales to End of April Remain Stable

• Ford Opens New R&D Centre In Windsor For Engine & Transmission Testing

• Mercedes-Benz unveils the Viano and the new Vito

• General Motors Will Equip 2004 Model Year 15-Passenger Vans With Vehicle Stability Enhancement System

• 2003 Honda Odyssey and Accord Coupe Achieve All-Around Five Star Safety

• GM Demonstrates Hybrids And Fuel Cell Vehicles In Green Transportation Event: Tour De Sol

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Ford Opens New R&D Centre In Windsor For Engine & Transmission Testing
 

WINDSOR, Ont.- A new research and development facility in Windsor has the potential to become a testing laboratory for the engines that drive Ford Motor Company vehicles around the world. Ford of Canada's new Powertrain Engineering Research & Development Centre (PERDC) officially opened today with a customer-focused goal of continually improving the way Ford designs and manufactures engines and transmissions. Located at Ford's bustling Essex Engine Plant in Windsor, the $13 million PERDC houses a dedicated team of Ford engineers - working with graduate students from the University of Windsor's Faculty of Engineering - to study engine performance variability in a dynamic research and manufacturing environment.

"In recent years, consumer research has indicated a growing demand for quieter, smoother automotive engines, particularly for trucks," said Ford's David Szczupak, Vice President, Powertrain Operations. "As a key source of the company's global engine production, Windsor was the natural choice for advanced research and development in this area."

The PERDC is an extension of the research labs at Ford's Advance Engineering Centre in Michigan where the company employs four advance dynamometer cells for NVH (Noise, Vibration & Harshness) testing and research. In Windsor, the PERDC will perform computer-aided testing on engines and transmission, with particular emphasis on NVH. Testing will initially focus on Windsor-produced 3.9- and 4.2-litre V-6 engines, and the Triton family of V-8 and V-10 engines. Engineering representatives from the five Ford and Nemak Corporation engine and casting plants in Windsor participate in the testing and data assessment. NVH, life cycle and road-load simulation tests will also be conducted on truck and car transmissions.

Data collected from testing performed at the PERDC will provide design engineers with a critical baseline to help determine the level of improvement in NVH that will result by redesigning certain components in future engines or transmissions. Work at the PERDC is coordinated through the Ford Advanced Engineering Centre and Product Engineering in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford Motor Company's research shows that its attention to powertrain refinement levels and engine sound quality is making a difference to customers.

The PERDC recruits "A" average Masters and PhD candidate engineering students from the University of Windsor. Up to eight graduate students work at the Centre at any given time for work terms of two to five years. Graduate students are directly involved in engine testing. In preparation for their graduate projects (the topics for which are typically related to the testing or development that occurs at the PERDC), they are exposed to digital signal processing, along with the collection and analysis of data. Each graduate student is given an individual project to work on though the duration of his or her term.

(May 14, 2003)