Clemson University Corporate and Foundation Relations

With a $50,000 grant award, Weyerhaeuser, one of the world’s largest private owners of timberlands, has become the fifth Founding Partner for Clemson’s Wood Utilization + Design Institute. The WU+D Institute is a multidisciplinary entity that was established in 2013 to educate, conduct research and provide continuing education of stakeholders across the wood industry. Researchers with the institute currently are testing cross laminated timber (CLT) to determine burn rates, wind resistance and structural load.

Weyerhaeuser joins the WU+D’s impressive list of Founding Partners, including Huber Engineered Wood Products, Collum Lumber, SmartLam and Mac Rhodes, a South Carolina timberland owner. The gift from Weyerhaeuser will support the institute’s mission of bringing together foresters, architects, engineers, constructors and building industry stakeholders to design advances in wood-based products through education and training, product research and development, and development of technical and design solutions.

The forest industry has an $18.6 billion impact on the South Carolina economy. More than two thirds of land in South Carolina — 12.9 million acres — is forested. The Clemson University Wood Utilization and Design Institute is strategically positioned to drive the development, demand and utilization of wood products, as well as address industry’s needs for the next generation of talent.

Thank you, Weyerhaeuser, for supporting wood research and education at Clemson!

Valerie Clements, the 2016 Bosch Fellowship recipient and automotive engineering graduate student at Clemson, is quickly learning about the special opportunities that a corporate-sponsored fellowship can create.

Valerie has been involved in drag racing since 2001, when she was eight years old. She competes in the Junior Dragster-level, following in her brother, former champion, Alton Clements’ footsteps. Racing is a family affair for the Clements, as Valerie, her dad, and brother work together to get her car into racing shape. She enjoys being hands-on with the preparation for racing, connecting elements from her courses at Clemson to her racing experience. She was named the National Mustang Racers Association (NMRA) Rookie of the Year in 2012.

After being awarded the Bosch Fellowship, Valerie was excited to learn more about Bosch’s footprint in NASCAR racing as a sponsor. She was invited to join the Bosch team at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title race in Miami in late November, an especially exciting experience for a drag racing champion like Valerie.

Pictured above is Valerie with the Bosch CEO Mike Mansuetti and team after Jimmie Johnson secured the Sprint Cup Championship title in Miami. (Valerie is standing directly behind the trophy!)

In fall 2016, three key endowed chair positions were filled in the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences, paving the way for cutting-edge research in some of Clemson’s priority areas.

The Duke Energy Smart Grid Technology Chair Endowment was established by Duke Energy and the SmartState SC program in 2013 to create an endowed faculty chair position at the Clemson University Restoration Institute (CURI) in North Charleston, SC. This endowment created the Duke Energy Smart Grid Technology Endowed Chair and two distinguished professorships. In October 2016, the Duke Energy Endowed Chair position was filled by Dr. Johan Enslin, an expert in power system planning, power electronics, and the integration of large-scale solar and wind power to the electric grid. Enslin joined Clemson after leading the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) at UNC Charlotte. As the Duke Energy Endowed Chair, Enslin will lead the development and growth of research initiatives in emerging electric-grid technologies. Read more about Dr. Enslin and his new role at Clemson.

The Michelin Endowed Chair in Vehicle Automation was established by Michelin and the SmartState SC program in 2004 to support a faculty position at the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR). In October 2016, Dr. Venkat Krovi was named the Michelin Endowed Chair. Krovi joins the Clemson faculty after 15 years at the University of Buffalo. He has a wide-ranging background in robotics, but is now focusing on autonomous vehicles, a field that could bring major changes to driving. During his time at the University of Buffalo, Krovi built an international reputation as a highly regarded expert in robotics, and among many other achievements, helped secure the University’s Tier-1 membership in the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute. As the Michelin Endowed Chair, Krovi will work with regional collaborators in the Upstate and beyond. Read more about Dr. Krovi and his new role at Clemson.

The BMW SmartState Chair in Automotive Manufacturing was established by BMW Manufacturing Co. and the SmartState SC program in 2003. In December 2016, Dr. Laine Mears, professor of automotive engineering at Clemson, was named to this esteemed faculty position. Mears has been a faculty member at Clemson since 2006 and has more than 10 years of experience in the automotive industry. As the BMW SmartState Chair, he will direct a new program at the Center for Manufacturing Innovation (CMI) in Greenville that will bring together Clemson engineers and Greenville Technical College students to work together on a prototype assembly line. Mears’ research focuses on how manufacturers can use sensors and the data they generate to better understand and streamline operations, saving money and improving quality. Read more about Dr. Mears and his new role at Clemson.

GE has awarded a grant to the Upstate SC STEM Collaborative at Clemson University to support the continued growth of the iMAGINE Upstate festival and STEM education opportunities in upstate South Carolina. The central mission of the Upstate SC STEM Collaborative, an initiative of South Carolina’s Coalition for Math and Science (SCCMS), is to pursue opportunities and possibilities in STEM education to promote workforce development in the upstate region of South Carolina. The Upstate SC STEM Collaborative plays a critical role in our region’s economic development, and through annual activities such as the iMAGINE Upstate festival, the Collaborative brings together partners from industry, education, government, and the community to inspire the next generation of STEM leaders.

GE has contributed over $100,000 to SCCMS over the past five years. Thank you, GE, for supporting STEM education and workforce development in the Upstate!

On November 18, 2016, at an event at the Michelin headquarters in Greenville, SC, the global tire manufacturer announced that it would be joining with students and faculty from Clemson University and the University of South Carolina to collaboratively solve a sustainability challenge relevant to Michelin business interests. Michelin is sponsoring a three-semester Creative Inquiry project at each institution, allowing students from multiple disciplines to gain hands-on experience solving a real-world business challenge and developing skills in critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity.

Dr. Grego Mocko, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Clemson, and Dr. Paul Ziehl, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at USC, will act as faculty mentors for the students enrolled in the course at each university.

Communications and marketing students at each university assisted with promoting the course to students before fall registration and played a key role in planning the kick-off event and assisting with publicity and social media efforts surrounding the event. The “House United” tagline and #1SC2Sustain hashtag were developed by the student team to promote the course and event and will continue to be used throughout the duration of the project.

On November 11, representatives Hitachi High Technologies Americas joined faculty and leadership from the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences to celebrate the 2016 Hitachi High Technologies Electron Microscopy Fellowship recipient, Monsur Islam, a PhD candidate in mechanical engineering.

Hitachi established this fellowship endowment with a $100,000 commitment in 2014, awarding one $20,000 fellowship to a graduate student in the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences for the next five years. Hitachi Fellows must use Hitachi’s super-magnifying microscopes, located at Clemson’s Electron Microscopy Lab, in their research. Monsur Islam’s research uses renewable resources instead of coal and petroleum to create carbides that are used in a wide range of products.

Phil Bryson, vice president and general manager of the Nanotechnology Systems Division at Hitachi High Technologies America, says about the fellowship:  “We are pleased to see that Hitachi microscopes have played an integral role in Monsur Islam’s research. The fellowship that he is receiving is part of Hitachi’s long, mutually beneficial collaboration with Clemson.”

Thank you, Hitachi, for supporting our exceptional graduate students!

Read more about Monsur Islam and the Hitachi Fellowship.

Siemens, a global technology, has awarded Clemson University a software grant with a commercial value of $357M, the largest in university history.

The grant will benefit students and faculty in the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences, allowing students to develop skills with the world-class Siemens product lifecycle management (PLM) software that is used by more than 140,000 companies worldwide.

This exciting partnership will help prepare Clemson students to compete in the job market and will contribute to a highly skilled STEM workforce for South Carolina and the global advanced manufacturing sector.

Siemens President and CEO Eric Speigel and other executives visited campus on November 4 and 5 to announce and celebrate this partnership and participate in a thought leadership panel focused on workforce development. Ted Pitts, President and CEO of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, moderated the panel comprising Dr. Gregory Mocko, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Clemson and faculty proponent of using Siemens PLM software in the classroom, Ted Mitchell, Under Secretary for the U.S. Dept. of Education, Dr. Joerg Schulte, Manager – Liaison Office for Research and Innovation at BMW, and Shweta Rawat, Automotive Engineering Graduate Student at CU-ICAR.

Read more about the Siemens PLM software grant and Siemens’ footprint in South Carolina and view the announcement and panel.

Esko, a global supplier of integrated solutions for the packaging, labels, sign and display industries, has made a five-year commitment of equipment, software, and services to the Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics. The gift-in-kind is valued at $26.7M.

Esko executives Larry Moore, Vice President of Partner Programs, and Rory Marsoun, Vice President of Flexo Business Development, visited campus to celebrate this important investment in the packaging science curriculum. The Sonoco Institute is the only university program in the country with a multidisciplinary approach to packaging as a core competency. Esko has been a partner of the Clemson institute since 2008, and the curriculum is built around the company’s equipment and software.

Read more about Esko’s partnership with Clemson.

At an event on November 1, global computing company Dell was announced as the second Sustaining Innovation Partner for the Watt Family Innovation Center. Dell is supporting the Watt Center through a five-year technology grant that will help students, faculty, and staff use cutting-edge technology to create and collaborate in the Center.

Students from two Creative Inquiry projects that rely heavily on Dell hardware and software presented their research at the event, demonstrating the impact Dell’s support has already made on Clemson students’ academic and research opportunities.

Thank you, Dell, for being one of Clemson’s world-class corporate partners!