$21M fluid power engineering research center established

Parker and Fluid Power Industry Stakeholders Jointly Collaborate with the National Science Foundation to Establish $21 Million Fluid Power Engineering Research Center

Parker Hannifin, a world leader in motion and control technologies, has collaborated with the National Science Foundation, several universities and other leading industrial companies to establish a $21 million Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power.

"Fluid power is a key component of our product portfolio," said Don Washkewicz, Parker chairman and CEO. "The new research center will help expand the already vast range of fluid power applications possible, ensuring real growth for our industry for years to come. We believe that by investing in innovation, we can turn today's concepts into tomorrow's realities, improving the quality of life everywhere in the world."

Major funding for the new research center comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which recently announced a $15 million, five-year grant to support the new Fluid Power Engineering Research Center. Parker and other industry partners, under the coordination of the National Fluid Power Association, will augment NSF funding with $3 million, and seven universities involved in the center will contribute an additional $3 million. The center will be based at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus.

"This center will advance fundamental knowledge, providing a platform for technology that will spawn new industries. We are impressed with the ambitious goals of the center for research and education and the strong partnership with industry," said Lynn Preston, leader of the Engineering Research Centers Program at NSF.

Fluid-power technology encompasses most applications that use liquids or gases to transmit power in the form of pressurized fluid. The complexity of these systems ranges from a simple jack used to lift your car when replacing a tire to sophisticated airplane flight control actuators that rely on high-pressure hydraulic systems. Fluid power is a $33 billion industry worldwide. Major industry areas include aerospace, agriculture, construction, health care, manufacturing, mining and transportation.

Researchers at the center will study ways to use fluid power more efficiently in manufacturing, agriculture, construction and mining. Each 10 percent improvement in efficiency of current uses of fluid power in these industries will save about $7 billion a year in U.S. energy costs. Researchers will also work to develop hydraulic-hybrid passenger cars that are less expensive and more efficient than current electric hybrids. A 10 percent improvement in efficiency in national passenger-car energy use will save about $10 billion a year.

Another goal of the research center is to develop portable, wearable and autonomous fluid-power devices capable of operating for long periods of time without external energy sources. This technology could lead to new medical and rehabilitation devices and robots that could be used in rescue missions.

In addition to research, the center will be involved in developing youth education programs, improving efforts to increase student diversity in engineering, designing internship and exchange programs for undergraduate and graduate students, and offering short courses and labs for industry workers.

Core universities involved in the center are the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Georgia Institute of Technology, Purdue University and Vanderbilt University. Outreach universities include the Milwaukee School of Engineering and North Carolina A&T State University. Outreach institutions include the National Fluid Power Association, Project Lead the Way and the Science Museum of Minnesota.

NSF-funded Engineering Research Centers conduct pioneering research in emerging technologies and train the next generation of engineers to be leaders in innovation. Each center, while based at one university, is a collaborative partnership drawing together individuals and resources from other universities, industry partners, and pre-college teachers and students.

With annual sales exceeding $8 billion, Parker Hannifin is a leading diversified manufacturer of motion and control technologies and systems, providing precision-engineered solutions for a wide variety of commercial, mobile, industrial and aerospace markets. The company employs more than 55,000 people in 46 countries around the world. Parker has increased its annual dividends paid to shareholders for 50 consecutive years, among the top five longest-running dividend-increase records in the S&P 500 index.