Large corporations regularly invest in their own future. Takata, supplier of a broad range of passenger and driver safety systems and devices, recently increased its investment in Kettering University's and its own future with multiple donations to the school, including financial support and equipment. The company will see a return on their investment in better-educated co-op students and a more experienced workforce.

The company made a second $25,000 donation, part of an overall $50,000 gift, soon after donating data acquisition equipment to be used with a crash test sled in the Crash Test Safety lab currently under construction on campus. The data acquisition equipment will enable Kettering researchers to record data in fractions of seconds from sensors such as those used on crash test dummies and crash test sleds.Takata had upgraded their data acquisition system and gave Kettering the equipment they were replacing. New, the equipment is valued at $350,000.

The donated deceleration sled will be part of the new crash test safety program in Mechanical Engineering. "Until recently, Kettering had not addressed the issue of crash test safety academically and was more oriented to engineering fundamentals and building automobiles. Now we are moving into the area of crash test safety as part of an engineering education," said Patrick Atkinson '91, associate professor of Mechanical Engineering.

"We are happy to assist Kettering University's expansion of their crash test safety program with the donation of a sled," said Timothy F. Healy, executive vice president of Takata in Auburn Hills. The sled is a dual pneumatic drive sled, capable of a 3,000-pound payload in excess of 35 miles per hour. It is equipped with a four-camera suite of digital video data acquisition as well as on-board and off-board data acquisition systems for use with the university's crash test dummy.

In addition to the equipment, two Takata staff members sit on the Kettering Crash Safety Industrial Advisory Board: Robert Fisher, a 1987 graduate of Kettering/GMI and vice president of Purchasing, Program Management, Business Systems and Supplier Diversity, and Michael Rains, a 1977 graduate and director of Engineering Systems Integration and Testing and Evaluation. The board first met Oct. 23, 2003, and plans to meet every six months.

Takata's commitment to Kettering goes back to 1982, the year General Motors Institute became independent from General Motors Corp. Takata was one of the first non-GM co-op employers for Kettering/GMI students. The company has continued to hire more co-op students each year, and many graduates have become permanent employees. "Kettering graduates are a great resource for Takata and we expect that to continue in the future," said Healy.

Students and Takata will realize a direct benefit from the recent equipment donations. "This lab facility helps students who co-op at Takata come back to the work environment with more knowledge, not only with engineering fundamentals, but with education tailored to Takata's core business," said Atkinson, making them prepared employees.

For more information on Bio-Mechanical Engineering and Crash Test Safety at Kettering, contact Janet Brelin-Fornari at jfornari@kettering.edu, Patrick Atkinson, at patkinso@kettering.edu or Jeff Hargrove '87, associate professor of Mechanical Engineering, at jhargrov@kettering.edu.

Written by Dawn Hibbard
(810) 762-9865
dhibbard@kettering.edu