Guoming "George" Zhu has spent a career improving the energy and emissions efficiencies of the internal combustion engine (ICE). As the G. Glenn and Marlene D. Gardner Endowed Chair in Automotive Engineering, Zhu is now leading the way in engineering advancements that will help engines adapt to multiple fuels and combustion modes.
“If we can improve the efficiencies of gas and diesel engines, we believe we can reduce emissions and strengthen their quality and importance,” Zhu said.
It is a fitting endeavor for a Gardner Endowed Chair holder, as the endowment was created by the late Glenn Gardner and his spouse Marlene in honor of Glenn’s game-changing innovations as an automotive engineer, including serving as a key engineer on the team that developed the world’s first minivan.
Zhu’s research is aided by his five-year appointment to the Gardner Endowed chair, which began in 2021. The mechanical engineering professor is working to increase engine power density by boosting the engine. His research team recently developed an applied engine knock management system using spark plug ionization and machine-learning methods that significantly improved engine combustion efficiency.
Zhu team is also looking to the future with innovations like autonomous vehicles.
“We’ll be co-existing for a time with internal combustion, electric vehicles, and hybrids,” Zhu notes “We can develop strategies that will reduce development time and cost. The auto industry is moving in that direction.”
Zhu is particularly proud of two contributions through the years.
The first was with a Department of Energy sponsored project that created a hybrid combustion mode. The other is a work in progress. Zhu is collaborating with the Department of Education to write a mechatronics textbook that will be free to students and help reduce textbook costs.
Since 2019, mechanical engineering students have learned mechatronics with the help of a tiny model segway in classes taught by Zhu. The project helps students develop competency in electronics and mechanical systems, that has later impressed employers.
“If we can do things like this for students, I think it’s important and we should. I’m very proud of the teaching side of my MSU years,” he added.
This kind of guidance and mentorship for the next generation is yet another hallmark of an endowed chair holder—in this case, one whose students, like Glenn Gardner before them, could go on reshape the automotive industry all over again by being researchers or engineers themselves.
Zhu is one of two faculty members who currently hold Gardner Endowed Chair positions. The other is his engineering colleague Siva Nadimpalli, whose work is focused in the broad area of experimental solids mechanics and fracture mechanics—currently related to the mechanical and electrochemical behavior of battery electrode materials.
A strong foundation of support
For the Gardner Endowed Chairs, and so many other faculty members across the university, being bestowed an endowed position is both an honor for an existing body of highly successful, impactful work, and a catalyst for future work—helping MSU build excellence, and a strong roster of leaders in research and teaching.
On the flip-side, endowed positions are a way for donors—like Glenn and Marlene Gardner—to help build a better future in areas they’re passionate about. The Gardner Endowed Chair in Automotive Engineering harkens back to the late alumnus Glenn Gardner’s career as an automotive engineer himself. During his time at Chrysler in the early 1980s, he not only helped develop the minivan, but also led the development of many future large vehicles under the brand.
In addition to funding faculty and research in the College of Engineering through both estate gifts and cash funding for their endowments, the Gardner family also has a long history of support for the College of Music, including for the major renovation and addition of the Billman Music Pavilion, as well as scholarship funds for piano students—a particular area of passion for Marlene—and ongoing support for the Community Music School.
Learn more about Zhu’s research.
LEARN MORE about support for the College of Engineering by contacting Senior Director of Development Michael Wallace at walla203@msu.edu or by calling (517) 355-8339.