Bosch, a leading global supplier of technology and services, expands its partnership with Stanford University through a variety of initiatives. Bosch has endowed a chair at Stanford, known as the Robert Bosch Chairmanship of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The Bosch endowment to Stanford will fund new research programs, innovative teaching ventures as well as encourage academic entrepreneurship throughout the mechanical engineering department. Professor Friedrich B. "Fritz" Prinz occupies the Robert Bosch Chair.
The endowment is a demonstration of Bosch's commitment to education, innovation leadership and development of technologies reflective of its slogan, "Invented for Life." Bosch's commitment to innovation in the field of engineering is further evident by its Bosch Research and Technology Center North America (RTC), with offices in Palo Alto, Calif.; Pittsburgh; and Cambridge, Mass. RTC is a corporate research division of the Bosch Group dedicated to developing ideas and technologies in collaboration with top North American academic and industrial sector researchers. Bosch RTC has worked with Stanford graduate students on a number of different technologies, including high efficiency internal combustion engine concepts, MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) sensors, autonomous driving and natural language understanding.
To mark the chair endowment, on October 1, Bosch and Stanford hosted a panel entitled "Sustainable Transportation for the Future" held at Stanford University. Moderated by Dr. Moira Gunn, radio host of National Public Radio's Tech Nation and BioTech Nation, and member of the Stanford mechanical engineering department's advisory council, the event's panel discussed the vision and needs of future transportation, the technologies required, open topics that need intense research and scenarios of implementation. Panelists included:
· Larry Burns, vice president, research & development and strategic planning, General Motors Corporation
· Christopher Edwards, professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
· Horst Muenzel, regional president, Research and Technology Center, Robert Bosch LLC
· Elon Musk, product architect and chairman, Tesla Motors, and CEO and CTO, SpaceX
· Stephen Schneider, professor, Department of Biology and Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University
Bosch has also become a founding member of Stanford University's CarLab, an initiative founded by three university professors, focusing on interdisciplinary research into automotive vehicle safety, the environment and enjoyable transportation. Bosch joins various automotive manufacturers, consumer and research companies in this initiative, uniquely bringing its leadership as a leading automotive supplier to these research areas.
"For many years, Bosch has significantly invested in research to develop technological solutions for social and ecological challenges," said Dr. Siegfried Dais, deputy chairman of the board of management, and responsible for research & development, Robert Bosch GmbH. "By partnering with Stanford University, one of the world's leading research and teaching institutions, in establishing the Bosch Chair and through our participation in the CarLab initiative, we continue our commitment to those principles and help accelerate the development of sustainable technologies for future generations."
"The Stanford School of Engineering is dedicated to tackling major societal challenges such as environmental sustainability through research and education. Those efforts are greatly helped by the support and partnership of companies such as Bosch," said Stanford dean of engineering James D. Plummer.
The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. In the areas of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology, some 272,000 associates generated sales of over 46 billion euros (over $63 billion) in fiscal 2007. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 300 subsidiary and regional companies in over 50 countries. This worldwide development, manufacturing, and sales network is the foundation for further growth. Bosch spends more than three billion euros each year for research and development, and in 2006 applied for over 3,000 patents worldwide. The company was set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as "Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering."
In North America, the Bosch Group manufactures and markets automotive original equipment and aftermarket products, industrial automation and mobile products, power tools and accessories, security technology, thermo-technology, packaging equipment and household appliances. Bosch employs approximately 25,000 associates in more than 70 locations throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico, with reported sales of $9.5 billion in fiscal 2007.
Stanford Engineering is home to more than 240 faculty members and more than 4,000 graduate and undergraduate students in nine academic departments. Among the larger and higher-ranked departments is mechanical engineering, where faculty members and students are advancing the frontiers of areas such as energy, nanotechnology, biomechanics, design and computational simulation.
