Clemson center a model for wind project

GREENVILLE -- On a series of rolling hills overlooking Interstate 85, Clemson University has built a spectacular campus of concrete and grass where students and researchers work on the cars of the future.

On a recent morning, a few tinkered with the Michelin-designed Tweel, a tire that has no air. Nearby, a student measured a headliner to solve a manufacturing problem at BMW's factory in Greer.

Across the hall, other students tested a dune buggy's ride in a test room that can bake a car at temperatures hotter than any desert.

"I don't know of any place that has the unique combination of test cells we have here," said Imtiatz Haque of Clemson's International Center for Automotive Research, or ICAR.

Haque also is the principal investigator for Clemson's future $98 million wind turbine test lab in North Charleston, and he said he thinks a similar campus could be replicated at the former Charleston Naval base.

"What we have here at ICAR is a model for what we want to do (in North Charleston)," Haque said Monday during a tour of the Carroll A. Campbell Graduate Engineering Center.

It's an impressive model. In a few years ICAR has attracted respected faculty, created

500 jobs with an average salary of $70,000, built a gleaming campus and attracted an estimated $215 million in public and private investment.

An international association of research parks last month recognized ICAR as a top emerging research center.

"We plan to use all the experience we've gained here in North Charleston," Haque said.

A walk through the testing areas Monday revealed students working with ultrasound equipment to measure paint applications and a project with Nippon Steel using robotics to reduce the amount of scrap waste generated in auto plants.

Haque said no other facility in the world is doing those tests.

In another room, John Ziegert, a professor in automotive design and development, showed off the Tweel, Michelin's unusual tire concept.

The Tweel is an airless tire that uses polyurethane spokes to support an outer rim made of rubber and other materials. Tweels are lighter than traditional tires and will never go flat.

Earlier prototypes had a major drawback: They were loud. Ziegert asked a student to flip a switch, and a next-generation Tweel began rolling on a piece of equipment, generating a quiet whir.

In a nearby room, Haque pointed to a dynamometer, a mass of wires and buttons hooked to a large engine. "That tests 500-horsepower engines," he said. "In North Charleston, we will have one that tests 20,000 horsepower."

The wind turbines of the future will have blades as long as football fields and stand taller than the Statue of Liberty. When running at full tilt, they will generate enough electricity to power 2,000 to 4,000 homes.

Some of these massive turbines are still on the drawing board, but U.S. Department of Energy officials said these monster turbines are the key to making wind power as cheap as other forms of power generation.

During a visit to ICAR Monday, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the drivetrain facility in North Charleston is an important part of his department's effort to keep the United States in the forefront of the burgeoning wind-power industry.

Meanwhile, leaders in the Charleston area hope the wind lab will attract manufacturers, just as ICAR did with American Titanium Works last year. The metal manufacturer announced that it would build a 320- employee factory in Laurens and establish a research and development arm at ICAR.

During the past few weeks, lawmakers and business interests have speculated about the possibility that a manufacturer such as General Electric might co-locate a factory near the future Clemson wind research center.

"We've already had calls from major players who want to play a part in the facility," said Nick Rigas, who spearheaded the turbine facility effort for the Clemson Restoration Institute.

Beyond the jobs and economic activity such a manufacturing base would create, Haque said it's important that the United States regain its leadership in science and technology.

Haque was born in Pakistan and was 12 when he heard President John Kennedy's speech about putting a man on the moon. "I became an engineer because of that speech," he said. "We need that kind of energy to get people excited about science again. That's our future, otherwise it's going to be in China or India."