Ferrari Creates University Design Lab to put Cars on a Diet

One manufacturing characteristic derived from Ferrari’s racing heritage has been a continual focus on vehicle weight reduction. The goal being lighter cars can go faster. Last year Ferrari unveiled a design study for a new small car called the  FXX Millechili. The concept was meant to show Ferrari’s commitment to building more efficient cars. The Millechili is proposed to have a target weight of just 1,000kg.

Yesterday, Ferrari announced it is expanding on the FXX program with the creation of the Mille Chili Laboratory. The facility will offer a chance of eight students to work at the lab studying ways to reduce weight of automobiles. Helping the students learn and innovate new ways to make cars lighter will be a roomful of hardware, software and Ferrari-donated chassis. Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa hopes the lab will be a creativity incubator.

It is a great pleasure to inaugurate this laboratory, which will work on a very important issue for the future. The experience confirms that constant collaboration between private industry and University is a fundamental part, and contributes to growth for both parties: the University has to work with not exclusively theoretical issues, while the industry can confront itself with new ideas.

Ferrari also announced it is offering six scholarships in engineering, physics, architecture, and human studies. The scholarships, unlike the laboratory, will be available at a number of Italian and global universities.

[via dexigner]