Development of Innovative Vehicle Systems Using Collaborative Training and Educational Technologies

Increase of competitiveness of automotive industry has a direct relation to the generation and gaining of novel engineering ideas. However, the creation of innovative technologies is not possible without the critical mass of highly skilled individuals and professional teams. Taking into account the complexity of modern technologies, automotive engineering professionals must have a deep interdisciplinary background that cannot be covered by conventional undergraduate and higher education only. To create such a background, advanced technologies for postgraduate education and lifelong learning are demanded. The presented paper introduces two case studies in this context. These studies disclose some mechanisms for research and development of new vehicle systems through industry-academia doctoral and post-doctoral projects. The work under discussion is based on results obtained within training schemes proposed by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) of European Commissions. The first case study presents the MSCA Innovative Training Network ITEAM. The ITEAM is mainly concentrated on PhD education and has the goal to establish and sustainably maintain the training network with high grade of interdisciplinarity. The target group covers future specialists skilled in research and development of novel technologies in the field of multi-actuated ground vehicles (MAGV). The training concept is based on intersectoral cooperation and covers domains of (i) basic research, (ii) applied research, and (iii) experimentations for three research clusters: "MAGV integration", "Green MAGV", "MAGV Driving Environment". The second case study relates to the MSCA Research and Innovation Staff Exchange project EVE-Innovative Engineering of Ground Vehicles with Integrated Active Chassis Systems. As differentiated from the previous case, the EVE involves not only early-stage researchers but also experienced researchers and management staff. The main technological target of EVE is to develop and validate novel integrated chassis system uniting decoupled brake control, active suspension elements, and dynamic tyre pressure control. This is being realized with intensive networking measures covering (i) knowledge transfer and experience sharing between participants from academic and non-academic sectors, (ii) professional advancement of the consortium members through intersectoral and international collaboration and secondments. Of special importance is the EVE training programme for testing of tyres and vehicle systems on several hosts in Europe, South Africa and USA. The paper demonstrates detailed cooperation mechanisms for both case studies. A particular attention is given to organization of joint experiments in research laboratories and on proving grounds as key elements for efficient training of skilled professionals. Approaches proposed in the paper can be used by establishment of new educational and training schemes having the target to fill up the niche in private sector and automotive industry with researcher-practitioners.