CALUMET, Mich. (WZMQ) – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow is planning multiple visits with innovators and community leaders across the UP community. One of her stops earlier Monday morning was at Michigan Tech’s Keweenaw Research Station in Calumet. The Research center has focused on mobility and energy consumption tests, Senator Stabenow commented that these updates can be paramount to driver safety.
“One of the unique ways we can contribute to advanced manufacturing is by talking about cold weather, whether that’s how solar panels operate, I mean all of those things can be uniquely tested for long-term durability,” commented Senator Stabenow.
Following the research centers’ mission of developing clean and efficient energy, Senator Stabenow noted that the Michigan Tech team at the facility is proving that these projects are a necessity to invest in. “I am laser-focused on doing everything I can in bringing dollars to Michigan Tech. We’ve identified dollars to bring into a number of things related to this research technology,” continued Stabenow.
Engineer student Mojtaba Bahramgiri noted that there are already a number of automation systems in vehicles on the market already, such as steering assist, cruise control, and even automated lane changing. “You do have lane assist they are using the sensors but you cannot see those, in this car, for example, we have the radars, the radars are a good sensor to detect the range of the target in different environments,” explained Bahramgiri.
The program continues to teach and give students the opportunity to work in an environment that’s similar to a real manufacturing facility. “The initial money to set up the mobile lab came from federal efforts that we put in to bring dollars here,” continued Stabenow.
“So we’re really about energy and then energy is just a carrier and we have to think about power, power conversion, and then power utilization. The commercial industry consumes lots of energy…I can’t just keep stacking batteries or a long haul truck,” commented the Director of APS Labs, Jeffrey Naber.
Senator Stabenow’s visits continue through Marquette tomorrow, meeting with the Great Lakes recovery center and officials with Northern Michigan University.
