October 15, 2008
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin visited the College of Engineering’s Composite Vehicle Research Center (CVRC) on Wednesday, October 15. He toured the lab and saw some of the work being done there by mechanical engineering professors Dahsin Liu and Alfred Loos; Lawrence Drzal, University Distinguished Professor of chemical engineering and materials science and director of MSU’s Composite Materials and Structures Center; and Ying Du, post-doctoral research associate in 
mechanical engineering. Levin also met with newly hired CVRC faculty – Arjun Tekalur, assistant professor; Soonsung Hong, assistant professor; and Xinran Xiao, associate professor.
Eann Patterson, CVRC director and chairperson of MSU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, describes the CVRC as “a center of excellence for the design and testing of composite structures for lightweight, environmentally friendly, durable, and safe vehicles,” with both military and civilian applications. This advanced composite materials research for air and ground vehicles is supported by $2.84 million from the Office of Naval Research (ONR); $1.85 million from the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) in Warren, Michigan; and $1.4 million from the Army Research Laboratory.
The CVRC, working closely with its Department of Defense agency partners, will examine problems unique to heavy-duty vehicles, striving for solutions applicable to combat vehicles while also answering design questions with civilian applications.
“We were delighted to have the opportunity to show Senator Levin around our new facility, particularly because he has been very supportive in establishing the center,” Patterson said.