View Greenville, SC Automotive Brochure
Since 1994 BMW and Upstate automotive suppliers have invested over $3 Billion and created more than 7,000 jobs, making the area a world leader in the automotive industry. The relationship between the automotive industry and the Upstate continues to grow and evolve almost daily. Most recently, BMW, the state of South Carolina and Clemson University formed a partnership to establish a premiere automotive / motorsport research center in Greenville. The Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research is located on a 250-acre campus along I-85 and will be the centerpiece of the automotive industry in the Upstate. CU-ICAR will be the home to the Clemson University Graduate Engineering Center that will offer training and advanced degrees in automotive engineering and motorsport technology. This project adds to the curriculum of Clemson’s Brooks Institute for Motorsport Excellence and furthers its position as one of the nation’s foremost motorsport programs.
BMW, the first corporate tenant in the park, will build a research center that will focus on information technology. And as Helmut Leube, president of BMW Manufacturing Group, said at the November 2003 groundbreaking, CU-ICAR will be a place “ where our gifted engineers and IT wizards will create the BMW of the future”. IBM, Microsoft and Michelin all have announced their intentions to be a part of the park. CU-ICAR is one more strategic move that is making the area a center of excellence for the automotive industry.
Facts and figures behind the development of the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research
Clemson University ICAR brochure
Purpose: To support Southern automotive companies as well as the world motorsports industry by building the premier automotive and motorsports research and education program.
Why? There are more automotive manufacturing companies within 500-mile radius of Greenville, South Carolina than around Detroit. Further, Greenville is in the center of the motorsports Corridor between Atlanta and Charlotte where 2/3 of major racing teams are based.
Graduate Engineering Degree Emphasis: Clemson University’s program will be “cradle to grave” covering all aspects of the automobile, from mining metals and manufacturing the vehicle to selling and recycling the car. Further, the program would be broad and strategic in nature to ensure graduate has ability to integrate all components of automotive manufacturing (i.e. plastics, metals, information systems, etc.)
Clemson University Motorsports Program brochure
Focus for Facilities and Programs:
·Computational Fluid Dynamics
·Safety Testing and Crash Investigation
·Materials and Structure
·Acoustics and Environmental Systems
·Aerodynamics (Wind Tunnel)
·Alternative Fuels
Sources of Funding for the Project:
·$25 Million from State of South Carolina for Clemson Engineering building
·$10 Million from BMW (toward endowed chairs)
·$5 Million being solicited from BMW Suppliers
·Joint $15 Million would be matched with State Education Lottery proceeds
Why A Motorsports Component?
Many of the automotive research dollars are by motosports organizations
Venues are in US: NASCAR, Indy, CART, LeMans, SCCA
Europe/Global: Formula 1, Rally, ASCAR (Stock cars)
Note: With Formula I, 12 teams with 2 cars each; budget for each car is $200 Million -- ¾ of employees are engineers and ¾ of $’s go to research.
One of Many Visions: Later, ICAR campus would host conferences and seminars to support knowledge transfer. Facilities will show automobile’s Past State, Current State, Future State:
Past – Stock Car Racing Museum in Spartanburg
Current – BMW Zentrum
Future – Exhibit at ICAR of Future Automobiles, Race Cars
CU-ICAR website
Training at Greenville Technical College
In May 2003 Greenville Tech unveiled a new $7 Million automotive technology center. The new William F. McKinney Regional Automotive Technology Center is the largest automotive training facility, accredited by SACS, in the Southeast. The new facility will be a high tech training ground where 94,000 square feet of space will be used to expand programs that are growing quickly and to add new programs to meet industry needs.
The facility includes a showroom where street rods, motor sports vehicles, and new cars will be displayed. At the center of the building will be ten multi-media equipped classrooms, computer labs, offices and teaching facilities for the college's auto body, automotive and diesel programs along with General Motors’ partnership programs in automotive service and body service.
The William F. McKinney Regional Automotive Center will also house two new programs. A Street Rods and Customized Car program will cover body modifications, special paint procedures such as graphics and prismatic paints, tricktronics including remote door openings and engine starts, and hydraulics. A new Motor Sports Technology program will teach everything related to performance automobiles from engine building to drive trains, brake and suspension systems, and fuel and ignitions. Graduates will be qualified to work in race shops, high performance shops, or on pit crews.
Please click here to visit the Greenville Tech website for information on the types of programs offered at the McKinney Regional Automotive Technology Center
or contact Wayne Goodman at (864) 250-8420.
Upstate South Carolina Automotive Suppliers
Please click here for list of Upstate South Carolina Automotive Suppliers by County
