Oct. 18, 2006 — The Timken Co. has opened its new $10-million Timken Technology Center on the campus of Clemson University's International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR).

The new 118,000-square-foot center is primarily responsible for Timken's development of automotive powertrain technology. It allows the company to consolidate product, process and application engineering in a collaborative environment at CU-ICAR, home of world-class resources in the development of automotive and other manufacturing technologies. This will enable a more efficient and effective design process from a cost and time-to-market standpoint.

The Timken Technology Center will employ more than 150 engineers and technicians focused on developing innovative powertrain and friction management solutions. The facility includes state-of-the-art engine, metrology and prototype labs.

"Collaborating with Clemson University brings the academic and automotive communities together to develop real-world innovative solutions in product-manufacturing engineering that are intended to benefit the industry as a whole," said Jacqui Dedo, President of Timken's Automotive Group. "We look at our new facility as an important step toward developing more highly differentiated products for our customers. It also represents an opportunity to participate in one of the premier automotive and motorsports research and educational centers in the world."

In addition, Timken and Clemson University recently established an endowed chair, held by Dr. John D. Ziegert, to oversee automotive design and development projects between the university's research and development resources and Timken's on-site engineering group. The Timken Chair in Automotive Design and Development is one of four endowed chairs that will form the academic core of the CU-ICAR project.

The Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research is a 250-acre research campus in Greenville, S.C., that unites public and private partners with the university to develop the technologies, processes and workforce of the future. The Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Graduate Engineering Center anchors the campus and focuses on systems integration of increasingly complex interaction between electrical, digital and mechanical technologies in automobiles and many other manufacturing platforms.

Since the groundbreaking, CU-ICAR has generated more than $215 million in investments and pledges from the state of South Carolina, the Clemson University Real Estate Foundation and major industry partners including BMW, Michelin, SAE International and Timken. Through the project, Clemson also has developed strategic partnerships with Microsoft, IBM and Sun Microsystems. By summer 2007, the first phase of development — Technology Village I — will be complete, accounting for more than 500 new jobs.