An agreement between two universities is revving up motorsports programs on both sides of the Atlantic and may benefit industries beyond racing.
Indiana State University and Oxford Brookes University unveiled the partnership at the MIA's International Motorsport Education Forum (IMEF), held during the PRI show in Orlando, Florida.
The two-year agreement will allow both institutions to work together for mutual benefit, including exchange of faculty and students, joint research and other projects, collaborating on international grant applications and the franchising of courses for delivery via distance education.
"This agreement between two motorsports universities, operating on different continents, serves to illustrate just how global the motorsport industry has become," Mike Meechan, manager of the Motorsport Knowledge Exchange at Oxford Brookes, said. "Working with ISU adds a whole new dimension to the concept of partnering, and will allow each to reach a strategic impact, far beyond that which is possible where the two operate alone."
One aspect of the collaboration centers on research on wind tunnels and computational fluid dynamics.
"Indiana State University's College of Technology is working on projects in these areas," said Guy Faulkner, director of Indiana State's Motorsports Initiative. "By partnering with Oxford Brookes we can do even more."
The two universities have enjoyed a successful ongoing relationship since ISU became the first international partner of the Motorsport Knowledge Exchange, which is based at Oxford Brookes.
Faulkner said "Tad Foster, dean of the ISU College of Technology, and I visited Oxford Brookes twice and were able to put together an agreement that extends beyond motorsports."
The agreement between the ISU College of Technology and Oxford Brookes School of Technology will also focus on transferring knowledge and technical skills used in motorsports to other areas, such as aviation, engineering and bio-medical fields.
Contacts: Guy Faulkner, director of Indiana State University's Motorsports Initiative, 812-237-2026 or gfaulkner1@isugw.indstate.edu
Mike Meechan, manager of the Motorsport Knowledge Exchange, Oxford Brookes University, +44 1865 484240 or mmeechan@brookes.ac.uk
