Welcome to the GATE Center
The University of Tennessee's GATE Center for Hybrid
Systems The University of Tennessee's Graduate Automotive
Technology Education (GATE) Center for
Hybrid Systems focuses on development of optimal strategies for powertrain
control and systems integration. UT's Gate center is one of only eight centers
established by the Department of Energy.
DOE established Graduate Automotive Technology Education (GATE) Centers
of Excellence to provide a new generation of engineers and scientists with
knowledge and skills in advanced automotive technologies. To that end, ten GATE
centers were established at nine universities.
GATE centers receive DOE funding for student
fellowships and curriculum development. Each center has established a graduate
engineering education program that offers courses emphasizing that center's
technology specialty. Industrial advisory boards help each university to
identify and respond to critical research needs. Industry contributions help
provide funding for internships, shared research facilities and equipment,
research contracts, and fellowships.
UT's Gate Center Research
- Powertrain control
- Systems Integration
Hybrid History
With 19 years of Hybrid Electric Vehicle Research, UT is posed to lead hybrid
electric vehicle design in an academic setting.
Challenge X: Crossover to
Sustainable Mobility is a new three-year engineering competition that challenges
17 universities across North America to explore vehicle solutions that will
minimize energy consumption and reduce emissions. Students will follow General
Motor's (GM) real-world Global Vehicle Development Process and integrate their
advanced technology solutions into a Chevrolet Equinox, a GM crossover vehicle
that combines elements of both a sport utility vehicle and a passenger car.
The Challenge X teams construct vehicles that,
when compared with the stock vehicle,
- Significantly reduce well-to-wheels energy
consumption;
- Incorporate technologies that increase
energy efficiency and reduce fossil energy consumption and emissions on the
basis of on a total fuel cycle (well-to-wheels analysis);
- Significantly reduce criteria tailpipe
emissions and greenhouse gases;
- Increase pump-to-wheels fuel economy; and
- Maintain or exceed consumer acceptability
in the areas of performance, utility, and safety.
Capabilities
- Alternative fuels
- cold starting of alcohol fueled engines
- natural gas fueled vehicles
- bio-diesel fueled engines
- Emission controls and evaluation
- Hybrid electric vehicles
- design
- vehicle controls
- vehicle modeling and simulation
- Dynamometer design and control
- Vehicle dynamics and control
- Human-powered vehicle systems
- On road vehicle data acquisition and analysis
For more information please contact Dr. David K. Irick,
dki@utk.edu
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