The new Ford URP projects add to an active research portfolio that now comprises 30 studies in partnership with 26 universities globally.

In recent years, Ford has fine-tuned the objective of URP, moving away from more exploratory and long-term university research to highly collaborative projects focused on innovations with more near- and mid-term implementation potential. This move has made competition for URP grants much tougher, according to Ed Krause, external alliances manager for Ford Research and Advanced Engineering. For the recently announced program, Ford reviewed more than 70 high-quality project proposals, approving 13.

Over the past two decades, URP projects have produced fruitful results for Ford in a wide range of disciplines that include alternative power systems; automotive engineering and safety; environmental issues; infotronics, electrical and electronics and controls; materials and structures; manufacturing and quality; and powertrain.

In the late 90s, Ford awarded the University of Illinois an URP to study how to control and reduce diesel emissions, specifically NO_x levels. That joint research was critical to the development of the aftertreatment system now featured on the 6.7-liter Power Stroke V-8 turbocharged diesel powering the 2011 Super Duty, which complies with new 2010 federal regulations to reduce NO_x levels by more than 80%.

Ford has also formed ongoing strategic alliances with research and innovation leaders such as MIT, the University of Michigan, Northwestern and The Boeing Company, which has been in an active strategic alliance with Ford for more than 15 years.

In recent years, Ford has invested more than $100 million in total in these advanced collaborative research efforts, resulting in numerous technical advancements and intellectual properties.

Ford has also branched out globally, forming similar formal alliances with three of China’s most prestigious and recognized universities, Shanghai Jiaotong University (SJTU); Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA); and Chongqing University, where joint work with aluminum alloys and other advanced materials is currently underway and seven URP projects are being conducted.

Ford has further bolstered its commitment to more university collaboration this year, already opening the door for the next URP competition. Ford researchers, working with university faculty, have begun submitting their project proposals. Grant winners will be announced in early 2011.