SUSTECH

SUSTECH - International Cooperation for Sustainable Drive Technologies in Europe, China and the USA

Duration: 2010 - 2013

Funding: International Bureau of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Project partners: Technische Universität Braunschweig, Institute of Automotive Management and Industrial Production (AIP) & Institute of Machine Tools and Production Engineering
University of Michigan, EASTlab Environmental and Sustainable Technologies Laboratory (EAST)

Objective: The objective of the project SUSTECH is to link two projects evaluating the diffusion of new drivetrain technologies in the automotive industry.
The US-based Environmental Policy, Auto Design, & Materials Flows project is funded by the MUSES program of the National Science Foundation and is elaborated by researchers from the University of Michigan, the Rochester Institute of Technology, the University of California at Berkley and the Northeastern University. The project's objective is the analysis of the impacts of policy instruments regarding the decrease of greenhouse gas emissions on different material flows. In this context the reactions of consumers and those of the automotive manufacturers are considered. Based on these, predictions about future emissions and resource consumption can be made.

The BMBF-funded STROM project determines the optimal allocation of alternative drivetrain concepts in the markets of Germany and China in a related context. The evaluation of the technologies regarding their sustainability by integrated consideration of all involved actors of the transport sector: politics - automotive manufacturers - consumers gets enabled. Several institutes of the TU Braunschweig, the RWTH Aachen University and the Volkswagen AG are working together in order to achieve this objective.

To use existing synergies and to combine the knowledge of both projects, a continuous scientific exchange and joint research activities take place until 2013. This provides the basis for collaborative publication and the preparation of a joint project application.

Kick-Off

Research approaches of the projects "STROM" and "Environmental Policy, Auto Design & Materials Flows" regarding the SUSTECH project are presented and discussed as well as topics for cooperation were derived during a joint kick-off workshop at the University of Michigan on the 2nd and 3rd November 2010. In the following years researchers of the involved institutes will spend research periods to deepen this cooperation and to formulate and elaborate the joint research application at the University of Michigan.