About the Consortium

The 'Cambridge Vehicle Dynamics Consortium' is a collaboration between a group of manufacturers from the heavy truck industry and engineers from Cambridge University who have joined forces to develop better heavy goods vehicles.

The Consortium includes companies from various sectors of the industry concerned with vehicle dynamics and suspension design. The current members include Camcon, Denby Transport, Firestone, Goodyear, Haldex SIMPACK, Mektronika Systems, MIRA, Poclain Hydraulics, Tinsley Bridge, Tridec BV and Volvo Trucks.  The membership is continuing to expand, and companies are being sought from other sectors of the heavy vehicle industry.

By having just one member company from each sector, the companies can meet and work together in a non-competing, co-operative environment. The main focus of the Consortium's research is to develop improved suspensions which maximise truck safety, minimise road damage and improve ride, productivity and fuel consumption. The research concentrates on optimising existing suspension components and  investigating advanced concept suspensions with computer-controlled 'active' and 'semi-active' elements. The work involves computer modelling, laboratory testing of prototype hardware and field trials of instrumented vehicles.

Members of the Consortium pay an annual membership fee and provide contributions 'in kind' to assist the research. The Steering Committee consists of representatives of each sponsor and University researchers. It meets twice yearly, proposes research projects and monitors performance. See our invitation to industry document for further information on the consortium. Any other questions can be answered by contacting Professor David Cebon, at dc@eng.cam.ac.uk