Direct Injection Gets Injection Of Funds

FOR RELEASE: March 11, 2002

General Motors Teams Up With University Of Wisconsin-Madison In Major Engine Study

Warren, Mich. - General Motors has provided the Engine Research Center (ERC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a $500,000 grant to support the Center's research towards producing cleaner, more efficient gasoline and diesel engines.

The one-year, $500,000 grant will be used to study and produce advances in direct-injection gasoline and diesel engines, including combustion, fuel spray model development, engine and exhaust aftertreatment system modeling, and turbulence modeling.

Dr. Hazem A. Ezzat, director of GM's Powertrain Systems Research Laboratory, said, "The ERC at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's College of Engineering is one of the leading engine research facilities in the world. Its work focuses on improvements to direct-injection engines, an area of technology we believe has great promise for the future.

"Because the ERC's advanced research is a key to developing clean and efficient engines, General Motors expects to work more closely with this respected facility in the future. And since this is an independent institution of higher learning, we are confident the research will significantly impact the scientific knowledge base," Dr. Ezzat said.

According to Professor Rolf Reitz, director of the ERC, "These new projects continue the tradition of ERC research which is to respond to the challenges that face the engine industry. Meeting upcoming emissions mandates will require exciting new engine design concepts and new understandings of engine phenomena. The ERC faculty continues to be committed to the development and application of new analysis and diagnostic tools for engines, and to the transfer of this technology to the engine industry."

General Motors has been expanding its technical network through alliances and partnerships with universities around the world. Some other universities with which GM has partnership agreements are Brown University, Carnegie-Mellon University, Stanford University, The University of Michigan and Jiaotong University in Shanghai, China.

General Motors , the world's largest vehicle manufacturer, designs, builds and markets cars and trucks worldwide. In 2001, GM earned $1.5 billion on sales of $177.3 billion, excluding special items. It employs about 362,000 people globally.

GM has been the world's automotive sales leader since 1931. In 2001, GM set industry sales records in the United States - it's largest market - for total trucks and for sport utility vehicles. GM sold more than 1 million SUVs - a first for any automaker. GM also sold more full-size pickup trucks than any other manufacturer since 1978.

GM also operates one of the world's largest and most successful financial services companies, GMAC, which offers automotive, mortgage and business financing and insurance services to customers worldwide.

More information on the Engine Research Center can be found at www.erc.wisc.edu. More information on General Motors can be found at www.gm.com.