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Recent gifts from corporate and foundation partners will strengthen several Clemson STEM education programs for K-12 students.

iMAGINE Upstate 2018

– AFL, a South Carolina-based manufacturer of fiber optic products and equipment, and Robert Bosch LLC, multinational engineering and electronics company, have supported the 2018 iMAGINE Upstate festival that will be held in Greenville, SC in April.

– An initiative of South Carolina’s Coalition of Math and Science (SCCMS), iMAGINE Upstate seeks to create meaningful experiences that promote a culture of lifelong learning and career readiness with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM), innovation, and entrepreneurial activity in Upstate South Carolina.

Charleston STEM Festival

– The Charleston STEM Festival, another initiative of SCCMS, is a celebration of science, technology, engineering and math in the Lowcountry of South Carolina and will be held in February 2018.

– Robert Bosch LLC recently pledged to support the Charleston STEM Festival for the next three years as the festival’s presenting sponsor.

Clemson University Women in Numbers (CU-WIN)

– The Engineering Information Foundation, based in New York, NY, has awarded Clemson a $15,000 grant for a new summer program focused on strengthening middle school girls’ math skills. The CU-WIN program will be held in North Charleston, SC at the Clemson University Restoration Institute (CURI) and will allow participants to visit industry facilities and engage with female role models working in STEM fields while also building math skills through hands-on lessons.

Six Clemson marketing students presented the findings of their undergraduate research project to Siemens executives during the fall 2017 semester.

Through a Creative Inquiry sponsored by Siemens, students were asked to find solutions on how to best transfer knowledge between new and old employees as baby boomers start to retire. Their research resulted in a list of actionable items for Siemens to incorporate to help the company grow even as they lose their most senior employees.

Kevin Yates, leader of the energy management division for Siemens in the U.S. and Canada and a 1994 Clemson graduate, said, “They absolutely delivered and hit the mark. The value they created, given their limited experience, was outstanding. The research they have provided has been very insightful. There were several ‘a-ha’ moments from our staff during the presentation.”

This Creative Inquiry project will continue over the next two years with students elaborating on the prior work each semester.

For more information, visit: http://newsstand.clemson.edu/mediarelations/siemens-taps-clemson-students-to-mitigate-baby-boomer-exodus-from-its-work-force.

Wells Fargo has donated $350,000 to two different diversity programs at Clemson University. Students in the Call Me MISTER and Emerging Scholars programs will benefit from these $200,000 and $150,000 scholarship donations respectively. This funding will support initiatives focused on improving educational outcomes for diverse student populations across South Carolina.

Call Me MISTER was established to increase the number of diverse teachers in South Carolina. The program provides tuition assistance for its participants in teacher education. It also provides a support system to ensure graduates’ success.

The Emerging Scholars program gives South Carolina high school students in low-income areas with opportunities such as mentoring, college tours, educational workshops, and summer residential experiences at Clemson.

“The continued support Wells Fargo provides Emerging Scholars has allowed us to increase the number of students we serve,” said Amber Lange, executive director of the Office of College Preparation and Outreach. “This summer we will expand into two new high schools and that would not be possible without Wells Fargo.”

Wells Fargo has given over $1.5 million to Call Me MISTER and $750,000 to Emerging Scholars. The longtime support of these programs allows Clemson to bring educational and career opportunities to many young people of color and first-generation college students.

For more information, visit: http://newsstand.clemson.edu/mediarelations/wells-fargo-donates-350000-to-clemson-diversity-programs-2. 

Honda R&D Americas is the primary sponsor of the new Deep Orange 9 (DO9) concept vehicle project, which tasks graduate automotive engineering students with building a next generation rallycross vehicle. The car will be the first of its kind: a high-performance, ultra-tough motorsports vehicle with a clean, fuel-efficient hybrid powertrain, advanced technical features, and highly dynamic handling and acceleration.

Deep Orange 9 is also supported by Aisin Group and JTEKT Corporation as Leadership Sponsors, BFGoodrich as Track Sponsor, and Red Bull and the Specialty Equipment Market Association as Marketing Sponsors. Students are also incorporating unique concussion research into DO9 in collaboration with the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare system.

The DO9 project will also present new ways to market vehicles to motorsports fans. In a collaboration with the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute, undergraduate students studying consumer behavior, sports marketing, and marketing research will leverage consumer research to segment and target customers for DO9.

Deep Orange 9 is an extremely unique innovative, project-based learning program that produces highly capable automotive engineers by immersing them in the world of vehicle manufacturers and suppliers.

“The extreme engineering behind motorsports has often been used as a test bed that pushes the boundaries of consumer vehicle technology,” said Robert Prucka, Kulwicki Endowed Professor in Motor Sports Engineering at CU-ICAR, who leads the program. “Deep Orange 9 students are tasked not only with developing an innovative vehicle with the power and handling requirements of an emerging motorsport, but with finding new ways to improve driver safety, fuel efficiency and vehicle emissions in these highly dynamic driving situations.”

For more information, visit: http://newsstand.clemson.edu/mediarelations/clemson-university-prototype-program-announces-next-generation-rallycross-vehicle.

Through a Bosch Community Fund great, Clemson’s graduate students and faculty in Automotive Engineering were given the opportunity to study the challenges In developing small scale autonomous boats with an eye toward removing micro-plastics from the ocean.

The 71 students divided into groups and created 18 different boats that were capable of cruise control, boundary tracking, and collision avoidance using the sensing signal processing, filtering techniques, and advanced control methods they learned in class.

After the competition, students were tasked to develop a report describing how they would design a boat for ocean conservation (inspired by Bosch) and to identify and address current challenges and gaps for creating future autonomous boats.

CU-ICAR held its annual Automotive Engineering Fellowship Awards Ceremony on November 17 to honor the graduate students who received fellowship awards for the 2017-2018 academic year, as well as the generous corporate donors who created these awards.

Bill Post, PhD, Division Director, Integrated Controls at Honda R&D Americas, Inc. was the keynote speaker at this year’s ceremony. Dr. Post is a three-time graduate of Clemson and shared about the importance of his Clemson education in his career path with the awards ceremony honorees and attendees.

Burzis Taraporevala, Secretary and Chief Financial Officer for the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Allied Trusts, also shared remarks at the ceremony, remarking on the legacy of philanthropy that inspired the founding of Clemson University and the importance of continuing to pay that generosity forward.

Twenty-nine automotive engineering graduate students received fellowship awards this year from companies and other funders including Tata Trust, BMW, Bosch, Bridgestone, Cooper Standard, Draexlmaier, Firestone Fibers & Textiles, JTEKT, National Science Foundation, Plastic Omnium, Sage Automotive Interiors, Sonoco, and Staubli.

Deep Orange 9 industry partners gathered at CU-ICAR on November 17 to learn about the progress of the DO9 concept vehicle project, meet the graduate student and faculty project leadership, and discuss next steps for the vehicle’s design and production.

Industry partners represented at Deep Orange 9 Day included: Aisin Technical Center of America, BF Goodrich, Honda R&D Americas, Inc., JTEKT, and Red Bull.

The Deep Orange 9 project will develop and demonstrate a “next-generation rallycross” motorsports vehicle, with the goal of creating a safe, clean, and fuel efficient vehicle that provides highly dynamic handling and acceleration. The Deep Orange program is Clemson’s unique framework that immerses graduate students into the world of a future OEM and/or supplier, allows automotive engineering students, multi-disciplinary faculty, and participating industry partners to produce a new vehicle prototype each year.

Thank you, Deep Orange 9 partners, for your commitment to our students’ success!

Clemson welcomed Oregon-based forest product company, Roseburg to Clemson this month to tour the campus and attend the Clemson vs. Citadel football game. Roseburg Forest Products is expanding its operations with construction of a new engineered wood products plant in South Carolina. Executives from Roseburg, a leader in the forestry industry, spent their visit learning about how programs at Clemson help bridge the gap among education, workforce development and industry trends. These programs included the Wood Utilization + Design Institute, the Community Research + Design Center, and the Construction Science and Management program.

Roseburg spent time learning more about the capabilities of the Structural Engineering Research Lab, the Ag Mechanization Labs, and the Clemson Experimental Forest. On Saturday, Roseburg attendees participated in the CAFLS Tailgate, and watched Clemson beat the Citadel.

The Duke Energy Foundation has awarded a $50,000 grant to Clemson University to help expand a course on environmental education focused on the interrelationships of energy production and environmental stewardship at the Duke Energy Bad Creek Hydroelectric Station in Salem, SC. This program provides unique environmental education for 32 K-12 teachers, and in turn, 3,200 K-12 students per year. Courses at Bad Creek are taught by Clemson University faculty members, local scientists, and Duke Energy staff. Participants are recruited from Duke Energy service areas in South Carolina, including Title 1 schools and low-income communities.

Teachers and students who attend this course participate in lessons and discussions on the interrelationships of power generation, the environment, and the society.  Alumni of the program state that the benefits of attending include professional knowledge gain, professional advancement, as well as personal enjoyment.

Funds from the Duke Energy Foundation will be used to provide two Clemson University graduate courses for K-12 teachers. One course will focus on middle and high school teachers, and the second on elementary school teachers. Participants will spend a week in residence at Clemson University with daily trips to the Bad Creek Outdoor Classroom site. Prior to the course, participants will complete a series of online lessons that introduce them to the basic principles of aquatic ecology, power generation, and the Keowee-Toxaway ecosystem. It is predicted that this grant will impact over 3,000 people in the Clemson community.

On November 14, Mr. Millard Choate, President of Choate Construction Company, and Mr. Goz Segars, President of Segars Development, Segars Farms, and Segars Realty, gathered at Sole on the Green restaurant for a dinner honoring the 2017-2018 recipients of the Choate Family Scholarship and the Segars Family and Choate Family Scholarship. These scholarships recognize exceptional undergraduate students pursuing a degree in construction science and management at Clemson.

Dean Rick Goodstein of the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities, Hack Trammell, President and CEO of the Clemson University Foundation, Dr. Mike Jackson, Chair of the Department of Construction Science and Management, and Anne Barr, Sr. Director of Corporate Relations joined Mr. Choate and Mr. Segars in celebrating the following 2017-2018 recipients:

Ross Bennett, Kernersville, NC
Victoria Marquez, Fort Mill, SC
Trequan Bellamy, Longs, SC
Michael Boylan, Clover, SC
Pride Collins, Saint Matthews, SC
Garrett Corder, Irmo, SC
Noah Fuller, Laurens, SC
Christopher Gallo, Staten Island, NY
Morgan Guarneri, Lincoln University, PA
Kyle Hahn, North Caldwell, NJ
Jacob Holm, Green Pond, SC
William Hosenfeld, Goose Creek, SC
Mason Kingery, Goodview, VA
Bradley Kirkman, Rockhill, SC
Kenneth Krestan, Fort Mill, SC
David Monroe, Islandton, SC
Alexander Osteen, Seneca, SC
Stephen Parham, Piedmont, SC
David Rhoden, Columbia, SC
Kenneth Swindle, Central, SC
Joseph Voss, Manchester, CT
Jonathan Walters, Easley, SC