Ohio State University College of Engineering visits Chinese collaborators

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As part of The Ohio State University College of Engineering's and Central Ohio's efforts to increase collaboration with Chinese university counterparts, government personnel, and automotive industry leaders, Ohio State's Giorgio Rizzoni, director of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), Lin Ba, lecturer and Marcello Canova, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and CAR, visited key organizations on their recent trip to China. The itinerary included Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Hefei University of Technology (HFUT), SAIC Motor Corporation (SAIC) and Jianghuai Automobile Company (JAC).

 

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Marcello Canova lectures at Hefei University of Technology (HFUT).
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Discussions at Hefei University of Technology (HFUT)

In Hefei, Columbus' sister city,  Rizzoni and Canova met Mayor Zhang and HFUT leaders. The primary goal of the meeting was to follow up on the Columbus-Hefei EcoPartnership signed in Beijing in May 2012. Other leaders present at the meeting were Assoc. Prof. Liu of the HFUT-JAC Electric Vehicle Institute, Prof. Min Xu, Director of Automotive Institute at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), and Prof. Yishan Pan, Director of HFUT-JAC Electric Vehicle Institute.

A large part of the EcoPartnership agreement calls for resources to be allocated to develop and apply electric vehicle technologies. The Ohio State group had a very productive meeting at HFUT and with JAC. The three institutions are moving forward to establish a three-way collaboration aimed at assisting JAC with the development of new electrified vehicle products to meet new fuel economy standards in China (a situation similar to the new CAFÉ standards in the U.S.).

Earlier in the trip the Ohio State China Gateway assisted in securing a tour of SAIC--one of the Chinese “big four” automakers--which was a follow up to College of Engineering's Dean Williams’ visit earlier this year. Progress has been made in establishing a relationship with SAIC Advanced Engineering and research and development group. Ohio State is reportedly the first U.S. university to approach the group.

Overall the trip was very productive and should lead to the establishment of stronger ties between the involved parties.

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