CHARMEC - Evaluation 2000 |
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Below is the report from the international evaluation theme. The report has been scanned and processed in order to find possible scanning errors. The original report can be obtained from NUTEK.
March 11, 2000
Evaluation of Chalmers Centre for Railway Mechanics, CHARMEC at Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg
On Friday morning, March 10, two of us, the scientific experts Dr. Robert Frohling and Professor Roderick Smith, were briefed by the technical staff of the CHARMEC Competence Centre on some ten scientific projects. The morning presentations were delivered by professors, project managers and research students. During the afternoon, the entire review committee was briefed on general issues concerning CHARMEC as well as the research issues but now more emphasis was placed on the Competence Centre concept, interaction with industry, vision and strategy. The industrial partners also made presentations about their benefits, and actively participated in the general discussion. These presentations provided an overview of how all the programmes in CHARMEC fit together into the NUTEK model of a Competence Centre, and how the industrial partners interacted with the CHARMEC scientists.
We would like to thank the CHARMEC Director, Professor Roger Lundén, the Board Chairman Björn Paulsson, the industry representatives and all of the scientists and research students involved with CHARMEC for the presentations describing the Centre and its scientific programmes. We particularly appreciated the discussions, and the openness of the answers to our probing questions, that illuminated the various aspects of the science and the Centre operation. Our thanks also go to NUTEK for inviting us, and especially to Carl Naumburg and Staffan Hjorth, for their assistance in all aspects of the review.
CHARMEC's Board and staff have generated a set of goals with a time horizon of 2004. The Centre has grown impressively and taken a very distinctive shape since the last review in 1997. Their plans to 2004 envisage a further growth in revenue, industry members and postgraduate awards. At present there are inputs from seven industrial partners spread across projects, involving three schools and seven departments.
By 2004 the Centre's vision involves collaboration from up to ten departments. The target between now and 2004 is to publish a further 150 papers and to produce a further 25 licentiates and 15 doctorates.
These are ambitious plans, yet seem to be achievable. The 1997 review found that the Centre was rather narrowly based and that control engineering topics should be added to the portfolio. The strategy the Centre has now developed incorporates mechatronics and the Director takes the view that this is the most appropriate way forward in the context of control. We accept this view but would counsel the Centre to keep aware of developments in control engineering which might impinge on the mainstream of railway mechanics.
In general we believe the Centre has developed a strategic approach which is likely to work well in the short-to-medium term. It is essential however that the strategy is frequently and regularly reviewed.
There are many examples of value added as a result of the establishment of CHARMEC. There is an organisational and financial stability and a steady demand from the industry partners which did not exist before. There is a cross disciplinary programme (e g materials, vibrations, solid mechanics) which has resulted from the drive and coordination of the Centre Director and the Board. It has emerged as a national forum for railway mechanical engineering.
Because of the Centre's publication and conference presentation record, CHARMEC can certainly be seen as internationally recognized. It is a world class operation in some key aspects of the discipline of railway mechanics.
CHARMEC is involved in five EU BRITE-EURAM III projects. International partners are drawn from companies and universities from virtually every country in the EU. A feature of this outcome is that CHARMEC won five EU contracts from their six bids - a remarkable achievement.
CHARMEC seems to be a high-morale organisation. It is well managed and the Board members including the Chairman spoke highly of the way in which decisions are taken and results achieved.
There seems to be a genuine willingness to share information across the entire membership of the Centre. There are also links between CHARMEC and the Polhem Lab at Luleå University of Technology.
The Centre has developed a clearly focussed identity in a remarkably short time. This could possibly have resulted from the concentration on a relatively narrow range of topics.
As noted above, it is a well-managed operation. We were pleased to hear from the Dean of Mechanical Engineering and the Head of the Department of Solid Mechanics that the Centre is highly regarded within Chalmers. They agreed that the Centre was operating under space constraints and were sympathetic. There seem however to be similar constraints across the School.
The Board seems to operate smoothly and effectively. The Chairman pointed out some of the management and strategic problems which face a Centre in the railway industry e.g., railways are not highly profitable, railway systems are complex, there is a growing need for flexible design and response to change. He told us he was very happy with the progress made thus far by CHARMEC.
Within the overall topic of railway mechanics, CHARMEC is conducting an extensive programme in three major topic areas: Interaction of Train & Track, Vibration & Noise and Materials & Maintenance. Five European Union funded programmes have been interlaced within this programme and have been a valuable source of international contacts and collaboration. A new area, Systems for Monitoring & Operation is in the early stages of development. Work is conducted within seven departments of the university.
The research topics have been determined by close collaboration with the industrial partners, who are clearly both very supportive of the work and impressed with the results achieved so far. The industrial partners use the results both directly and as a way of strengthening their ties with existing and potential new customers. The industrial partners commented that they were now able to escape from the "trial and error" methods of the past.
The three major topic areas mentioned above have been pursued using cutting edge academic knowledge and techniques, coupled with a deep practical understanding of the relevance of the problems to the railway industry. World class theoretical knowledge has been combined with practical understanding and excellent experimental results, obtained with the cooperation and assistance of the industrial partners, to produce high quality, timely and useful research outputs. This is to be encouraged as it is this quality which distinguishes CHARMEC from many other research institutions.
These results, whilst of benefit to the industrial partners, have wider application and have been made available to the international railway community through an extensive series of publications and reports. Evidence that the work has been appreciated by a wider audience is found by the invitation made by the French Railway Authority, SNCF, to conduct joint research.
An illustration of the confidence of the CHARMEC team in their output is evidenced by the fact that they distribute some hundreds of copies of theses world-wide, and subject their work to international scrutiny. This confidence is well founded by extensive validation of the outputs by both the industrial and academic railway communities. The development and implementation of the inertia dynamometer for braking experiments and the railway noise rig, are examples of direct practical benefits for the Swedish railway industry.
Since its establishment in 1995, CHARMEC has produced some 32 papers in recognised international journals, 28 papers in proceedings of international conferences, 18 major European Union Technical reports and many internal reports.
The journal papers represent an output of world class results which have served to advance the state of knowledge of mechanics applied to railway problems.
The Centre has so far produced 7 PhDs and 7 licentiates. Over 90 students have contributed to Masters theses. The standard of the theses and the research students we heard make presentations was of an internationally outstanding level. The presentations were well organised and clear even to an audience unfamiliar with the details of the research topics. In addition the students demonstrated a knowledge of the subject outside the immediate boundaries of their own research and required no prompting by their research supervisors. It was clear that, although the projects were of practical importance, the research students who had carried out the research were acting in a traditional academic manner of completely understanding their problems, formulating their own models and solutions, before transforming the output to tangible deliverables.
Communication and thus the flow of information between CHARMEC and its industrial interest groups, has been achieved through close co-operation. The transfer of knowledge has been achieved through advisory groups, site visits, seminars, various types of meetings, joint experiments and co-authored papers and presentations.
The graduating PhDs have been employed in industry, several in consulting companies with links to the participating companies. A very pleasing feature of the feedback from participating companies on the value of the programme was that they regarded interactions with CHARMEC as a way of renewing and extending their intellectual knowledge bases.
Based on the material presented, as well as on the discussions with all interested parties at CHARMEC, it can be confirmed that the research work is of a very high standard.
Furthermore, the research is relevant and supports the Swedish railway industry. This has given the industrial partners the opportunity to depend on CHARMEC for fundamental research and concentrate their efforts on their core business. We recommend that NUTEK continue to provide financial support and stability to the centre.
CHARMEC, as noted earlier, has extensive industrial involvement. This occurs through their EU-projects and with the close collaboration of the Centre's seven industry partners. The commitment of the companies is impressive.
One outcome of involvement includes for example Abetong Teknik's improved ability in designing and casting of concrete sleepers in the international marketplace. In general, all industry members spoke highly of their relationships with CHARMEC.
There are some excellent examples of transfer and implementation. For example, Banverket have installed CHARMEC's DIFF computer program to evaluate the track system in a new 25 and 30 tonne axle load project. In another development, Adtranz Wheelset has developed new types of locomotive wheels using CHARMEC technology.
Possibly, the strongest technology transfer comes from diploma work, licentiate theses and PhD-students who are sponsored by industry members. Many CHARMEC graduates find posts in the Swedish industry and take with them the knowledge and positive attitudes of the Centre.
CHARMEC has established itself as a widely known and recognizable, world-class Centre of Excellence in railway mechanics. Industry-University collaboration works very well and very effectively. The caliber of the students graduating from CHARMEC is outstanding.
It is important that the industrial partners continue their financial and other support to CHARMEC. The future strategy of CHARMEC should include a defined balance between research undertaken due to the natural evolution of existing projects and new research areas of railway technology.
We strongly recommend that the Centre leadership undertake a careful strategic planning exercise (retreat workshop) to define better future directions for research and in particular to examine carefully the following items:
