The University of Waterloo, Maplesoft, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada are the recipients of a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Synergy Award for Innovation, which recognizes their success in collaborating on the model-based design and control of automotive systems that improve vehicle safety and comfort while reducing fuel consumption and emissions.
The award, for $200,000, was presented to Professor John McPhee, of the Department of Systems Design Engineering, and industrial research chair in mathematics-based modelling and design at the University of Waterloo. He is one of Canada’s leading experts in vehicle design, modelling and simulation.
“I am honoured to be part of a partnership that has the power to achieve enormous impacts on Canada’s information technology and automotive manufacturing sectors, delivering new software and safer, more energy-efficient vehicles to Canadian consumers,” said Professor McPhee.
MapleSim, a software platform developed by Maplesoft in collaboration with Professor McPhee and his research team, enables design engineers to accurately model and simulate the impact of individual components on overall performance. This advanced simulation capability shortens the design cycle and improves product quality – two essential outcomes for technology developers, component manufacturers and assemblers in the rapidly growing development of green vehicles.
Supplying application-side expertise as an end user, Toyota has provided technical support and experimental assistance throughout the collaboration. As a result, MapleSim is a more powerful software platform that Toyota now utilizes as part of the company’s advanced engineering design process.
“The quality of the research collaboration between Professor McPhee, Maplesoft and Toyota and the resulting commercial impacts are unquestionably world-class,” said Pearl Sullivan, Dean of Engineering at Waterloo. “The outstanding training opportunities provided by this program and the prodigious level of scholarly output from this three-way partnership are clear indicators of research excellence.”
Professor John McPhee (Photo credit: NSERC) Download image
The University’s unique inventor-owned policy on intellectual property creates a commercialization pathway allowing Professor McPhee, Toyota, and Maplesoft to work as an integrated unit.
“This long and productive relationship with Professor McPhee, strengthened by our collaborative partnership with Toyota, has given our company a significant competitive advantage in green vehicle development, arguably the most significant trend in the history of automotive technology.” said Jim Cooper, president and CEO of Maplesoft.
“The fresh insight gained through this integrated research has allowed us to set a global benchmark for this type of scientific approach,” said Ray Tanguay, chairman of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. “Increased production of green vehicles such as the hybrid Lexus will minimize harmful emissions and fuel consumption resulting in environmental benefits to Canada.”
The NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation recognizes examples of collaboration that stand as a model of effective partnership between industry and colleges or universities.
About the University of Waterloo
In just half a century, the University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada's technology hub, has become one of Canada's leading comprehensive universities with 35,000 full- and part-time students in undergraduate and graduate programs. Waterloo, as home to the world's largest post-secondary co-operative education program, embraces its connections to the world and encourages enterprising partnerships in learning, research and discovery. In the next decade, the university is committed to building a better future for Canada and the world by championing innovation and collaboration to create solutions relevant to the needs of today and tomorrow. For more information about Waterloo, please visit www.uwaterloo.ca.
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Notes to editors:
Several new discoveries have resulted from the University of Waterloo, Maplesoft, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada collaboration:
- Professor John McPhee’s unique use of linear graph theory for system modelling and its implementation in MapleSim allows engineers to model electric and hybrid electric vehicle powertrains and their components within a single design package – a key reason why MapleSim is gaining traction within industries supporting the electrification of the vehicle.
- As part of the system modelling, the Waterloo research team has developed innovative new simulation models for automotive batteries, torque converters, suspensions, and engines; these models have been commercialized by Maplesoft as part of the extensive MapleSim library.
- The collaboration between Professor McPhee and Maplesoft has established a new standard in simulation speed.
- In working with powertrain experts at Toyota, the University has developed new model-based controllers that improve vehicle safety and significantly reduce fuel consumption and harmful vehicle emissions.
- The improved vehicle designs will reduce fuel consumption and emissions with energy management systems that control the flow of power from engines and motors.
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