Alabama

Alabama, Automobiles and Academia: UA Offers Research and Expertise

by Bill Gerdes and Janice M. Fink

Dr. David Miller and students serve serve as automotive problem solvers through the Alabama Productivity Center. (photo: Chip Cooper)

Editor's Note: This story is adapted from UA's 2002 Research magazine, which annually showcases important research projects and programs at the University. See related article for more details about this new publication.

"The spark that caused the automobile manufacturing fire in this state was struck at The University of Alabama," says Dr. Malcolm Portera, chancellor of The University of Alabama System.

That fire shows no signs of diminishing. The University of Alabama has been an integral part of the automobile manufacturing expansion into the Heart of Dixie, supplying engineering, management and manufacturing expertise, as well as an educated labor force.

The first automaker to settle in Alabama was Mercedes-Benz, in 1993. Mercedes is now adding a $600 million expansion to its Vance operation. Then came Honda in Lincoln in 2000, followed by Hyundai in Montgomery earlier this year. Sandwiched in between was the Toyota V-8 engine plant in Huntsville, and as many as 130 automotive suppliers statewide. Estimates put the capital investment statewide by the automotive industry at more than $10 billion and climbing.

Business College Paves the Way

The automobile industry and the University have a long and colorful history. In 1983, the Rochester Products Plant, a division of General Motors, had announced it was closing its Tuscaloosa plant, eliminating 200 jobs. GM contacted Portera, then executive assistant to UA President Joab Thomas, to ask if the University could help. Portera contacted now UA interim President J. Barry Mason, then chair of the business school's department of management and marketing, and asked Mason to look at the situation.

"We needed to save $1.5 million," Portera said. "Barry called me back and said, 'We can do it'." Mason chaired a task force that identified $1.5 million in cost savings, which was achieved in eight months, and the effort made national headlines. GM reversed its decision to close and announced instead a $14 million modernization effort that lured two additional automotive suppliers to locate in Tuscaloosa. "They created the factory of the future and a new product," Portera said. "We realized that carburetors were a thing of the past and that fuel injection was the future."

When GM announced plans to build a new car, the Saturn, Portera and others began working on a model to attract the Saturn plant to Tuscaloosa County. Saturn chose Spring Hill, Tenn., but the same model was used to help recruit Mercedes-Benz.

After Mercedes came Honda, which now makes its Odyssey minivan in Lincoln, and most recently Hyundai. UA was part of the original presentation to Hyundai, focusing on the Alabama Institute for Manufacturing Excellence and the University Transportation Center for Alabama, both headquartered on the UA campus. Several corporate leaders in Hyundai earned their graduate degrees from UA.

APC Links Autos with Academia

A major link between the University and the auto manufacturing industry has been the Alabama Productivity Center (APC), a non-profit outreach organization established in 1986 by UA and Alabama Power Company. Housed in the business school, the center coordinates applied research and technical assistance programs across the campus.

Dr. David Miller, professor of manufacturing management in the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration and director of the APC, said faculty and students have been used as problem-solving teams to address specific, challenging issues facing organizations around the state.

Engineers Assist with Production and Quality

After gaining real-world experience as an intern with Mercedes-Benz US International, Katie Hornecker, former All-American gymnast for the Crimson Tide, now works with the company as a process engineer at its Vance assembly plant.

"The College of Engineering directly assists automotive manufacturers and their suppliers through technology transfer, applied research, and Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer subcontracts," said Dr. Timothy J. Greene, dean of the UA College of Engineering. "We have positioned ourselves to participate in the automotive industry by focusing on five research areas -- manufacturing, transportation, materials, information technology and environment.

Dr. Robert Batson, professor of industrial engineering, spent a recent sabbatical year as a guest of the Quality Engineering group at Mercedes-Benz U.S. International in Vance, where he developed a firsthand understanding of modern automotive production systems and assembly processes.

Batson provided statistical support to help quality engineers better understand performance data, from torque checks on bolting to quality metrics on incoming parts. He also assisted in the start-up of a company-wide supplier improvement effort, coordinating training courses in process auditing and performance improvement. He then called on a UA colleague, Dr. Gary Moynihan, professor of industrial engineering, to develop a statistical software program, now implemented at the plant, to help manage supplier performance.

A research project on spot welding conducted through UA's Center for Advanced Vehicle Technologies is also benefiting the auto industry. Dr. Mark Barkey, associate professor of aerospace engineering and mechanics, is studying noise and vibration and the fatigue performance of welded joints in a research program funded by the CAVT.

"We study new methods of high-power motion control as well as replacing existing methods, such as hydraulic systems, with electromechanical devices," said Dr. Timothy Haskew, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of the Electromechanical Systems Laboratory.

Automotive Engineers of Tomorrow

One of the greatest advantages that automakers get from their affiliation with the University is a wealth of qualified students, said Roy Gregg, director of UA's Cooperative Education (Co-op) Program. "At the moment, we are the only university in the country that can place co-op students with Mercedes," he said.

A Bright Road Together

As important as the economic, technological, applied research, human resource and educational aspects of the relationship between the University and the automotive industry are the social benefits brought about by the state's emergence as a major player in the automotive game, Mason points out.

"That has always been the draw," Mason said. "The benefits to UA are multifaceted. Once jobs are created, there is an immediate increase in the tax base, which means better roads, better schools, better health care, a better social climate for everyone. The quality of education for students goes up, without cost to the University. "There is not a company in the world now that can afford to NOT look at Alabama."