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Honda Initiation Grant Overview
Honda Initiation Grant - 2008 Call for Proposals
For more than 50 years, the philosophy behind "The Power of Dreams" has fueled Honda's growth and development. The relentless pursuit of technological innovations in science and technology is the cornerstone of the Honda brand, and enables us to develop valuable products for a better future.
The Honda Initiation Grant was inaugurated in 1997 to reach out to the vast talent that exists in academic-research communities. Every year, winners are chosen from a large pool of applicants and given one-time funding to help make their conceptual ideas a reality. The award program provides researchers with considerable freedom in their respective areas of study, as well as opportunities to interact with Honda researchers, and the potential for further collaboration.
This year the program will award at least 5 grants at $50,000 each to professors for outstanding proposals on a variety of research topics. Additionally, based on relevance to Honda's interest and projected competitiveness, the project may be eligible to receive a double-prize (up to $100,000 total). All projects funded should seek breakaway insights that are likely to make important and valuable contributions to technology in the long term (5-10 years). Please see Past Winners for a complete list of all previous HIG award recipients.
While HIG is always open to uniquely creative concepts in personal mobility, we are welcome to the following synergistic topics this year:
In the automotive, motorcycle & power sport-related area:
- Active-electronic engine/transmission mounting, as well as suspension, steering and brake-related control systems
- In-car services such as remote guidance and diagnostics support
- New GPS and communication-based cooperative intersection safety concepts
- Novel ITS concepts that will substantially improve the driving experience
- Next generation unique body, Interior and Chassis part structure concepts (lighter, stronger, cost efficient)
- Advanced methods for automotive aerodynamic improvements
- Power sport products (motorcycle, all terrain vehicle, personal water craft) including advanced concepts in power train, frame and exhaust technologies
- Advanced CAE simulation and modeling techniques
- Component/system construction for the achievement of advanced interior and exterior styling concepts
- Component/system construction for the advancement of light duty truck design/capability
In the environment and materials area:
- Environmentally-friendly (bio-degradable and recyclable) materials for vehicle applications
- Advanced materials and processes for significant weight savings (through material replacement, part integration, etc.)
- New materials/processing methods targeted at cost reduction or improved manufacturing efficiency
- Advanced material and processing for improved performance, safety, and smart functions
- Highly aesthetic materials for advanced interior and exterior design and feeling
- Novel concept of energy conversion & storage in the area of:
- Solar energy conversion with higher efficiency
- Electrochemical cells and components for power generation
- Electric power storage that replaces existing secondary battery and achieves
superior power/energy density, lifetime & safety
- Efficient energy management in total system
- Novel catalyst concept for sustainable automotive applications
- New theoretical and experimental approach of energy-related applications using quantum confinement effect
- Characterization method of catalytic surface chemistry on nano-scale materials
In the computer science/humanoid robotics area:
- Visual cognition and machine vision for scene understanding
- Human-like and commonsense reasoning
- Developmental learning and knowledge acquisition
- Speech and hearing
- Language-based communication for advanced man-machine interactions
- Dynamics and control of humanoid robots
- Computational Photography
- Human Robot Interaction