Giorgio Rizzoni

The Ford Motor Company Chair in Electromechanical Systems
Professor of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering
Director and Senior Fellow, Center for Automotive Research
The Ohio State University
930 Kinnear Road
Columbus, OH 43212

PH:(614) 688-3856
FX: (614) 688-4111
e-mail: rizzoni.1@osu.edu
https://car.osu.edu

Giorgio Rizzoni, the Ford Motor Company Chair in ElectroMechanical Systems, is a Professor of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, and an Adjunct Professor of Industrial Design at The Ohio State University.  He received his B.S. (ECE) in 1980, his M.S. (ECE) in 1982, his Ph.D. (ECE) in 1986, all from the University of Michigan (UM).  Between 1986 and 1990 he was a post-doctoral fellow, assistant research scientist and lecturer at UM.  He joined the Ohio State University Department of Mechanical Engineering in 1990. He has held visiting positions at the Universita’ di Bologna, Italy, the Swiss Federal Politechnic Institute (ETH), Zürich, Switzerland, Politecnico di Milano, and Politecnico di Torino.

Since 1999 he has been the director of the Ohio State University Center for Automotive Research (CAR), an interdisciplinary university research center in the college of engineering. CAR conducts research on advanced automotive and transportation technologies and systems engineering, focusing on sustainable mobility, advanced propulsion systems, human safety and the environment. CAR is located in a 35,000 sq. ft. facility and offers advanced experimental facilities that include engine and vehicle dynamometers; electric, hybrid-electric propulsion, fuel cell and electrochemical energy storage research facilities; and a hydrogen refueling station. CAR has developed and operates a number of prototype vehicles powered by various forms of advanced propulsions systems and alternative fuels.  CAR engages the participation of 16 faculty, over 50 graduate students, and a staff of over 30, and has annual research expenditures in excess of $6M with a balanced portfolio divided between the automotive industry and government agencies. CAR sponsors include most major automotive manufacturers and top tier suppliers; government sponsors include U.S. DoE and DoT, NSF, and the U.S. Army.

Dr. Rizzoni’s research interests are in system dynamics, measurements, control and fault diagnosis with application to automotive systems.  He has a special interest in future ground vehicle propulsion systems, including advanced Diesel engines, electric and hybrid-electric drivetrains, and fuel cell systems. He manages a personal research portfolio worth about $2M per year in these areas.

Prof. Rizzoni has contributed to the development of a graduate curriculum in these areas, and has served as the director of the U.S. Department of Energy Graduate Automotive Technology Education Center for Hybrid Drivetrains and Control Systems, and more recently Center for Advanced Propulsion System .  He has developed undergraduate and graduate courses in system dynamics, mechatronics, fault diagnosis, powertrain dynamics and hybrid-electric vehicles.   His book, Principles and Applications of Electrical Engineering, published by McGraw-Hill, is in the fifth edition and has been translated into seven languages.

Between 1993 and 2000 Prof. Rizzoni served as faculty advisor to the OSU Formula Lightning Team that won three ABB national championships with the Smokin’ Buckeye, an electric open-wheel race car.  Since 1995 he has been advisor or co-advisor of numerous hybrid-electric vehicle design teams that have participated in the FutureCar, FutureTruck and ChallengeX competitions sponsored by GM, Ford and Chrysler and by the U.S. Department of Energy.  Since 2000 he has been the advisor to the Buckeye Bullet team that set the EV U.S. land speed record at nearly 315 mph in October 2004 with a battery powered electric streamliner, the Buckeye Bullet.  The same team has recently also established FIA flying-kilometer and flying-mile records for hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles with the Buckeye Bullet 2.

Prof. Rizzoni is a Fellow of IEEE (2004), a Fellow of SAE (2005), a recipient of the 1991 National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award, of the 1992 SAE Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award; of the 1996 Stanley Harrison Award for Excellence in Engineering Education, of four College of Engineering Lumley Research Awards and of several other technical and teaching awards. 

Dr. Rizzoni is a past Chair of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) Technical Committee on Automotive Control, and is on the Executive Committee of the ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Division.  He has been an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology (10 years) and for the ASME Transactions, Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control (6 years).

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