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The Dana Corp. has completed its pledge of $20,000 in support of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s “Science in Motion” exhibition.
On the museum’s second floor, visitors of all ages can interact with many of the principles of science - in their most minuscule form that can help repair a broken heart and in their more powerful applications in the racing of vehicles.
The 3,000-square-foot, hands-on gallery promotes discovery, exploring and experimenting. Connections between science and daily life reinforces the concept that “science is everywhere."
Dana’s research-and-development unit for its commercial vehicle systems division based in The Groves is the sponsor of the "Race Car Challenge," an interactive work station in the gallery’s technology section where vehicles can be engineered, fabricated and raced on a 14-foot track. Children and adults can experiment with a number of scientific principles to improve the performance of the vehicle they build.
The gallery, designed to show that science is fundamental and fun, takes its name from the perspective of moving ahead in one's thoughts, ideas and understanding of the scientific process, a process that involves questioning, investigating, observing, interpreting and compiling information. It invites experiencing -- seeing, touching, hearing, experimenting -- in three main subjects: technology, energy and the human body.
The motion of a speeding vehicle is obvious. Even the coursing of blood through a person's veins can be comprehended. But the gallery also explores the less obvious forms of motion -- electrons moving along a wire, the splitting of a human cell, and the travel of light rays.
The technology section deals with how science permeates daily life. The Dana race track offers an engineering opportunity for children and adults who can experiment with a number of scientific principles to improve the performance of the car they fashion.
"The Way Things Work" is an interactive computer program that can be tapped for resource information as science is used for creating machines, for discovering new-breed materials, for designing new kinds of structures, and for improving communications.
Dana Commercial Vehicle Systems designs and manufactures for the commercial-vehicle market: front-steer, rear-drive trailer and auxiliary axles; drive shafts; steering shafts; brakes; suspensions; and related systems, modules, and services. Major components and modules are marketed under the Spicer brand name. Dana's strategic alliance with Eaton Corp.’s Truck Components Group provides innovative drive train systems under the Roadranger brand name.
In 1998, Dana acquired Eaton’s Axle & Brake Division. Its Commercial Vehicle Technology Center was opened in May of 2000 in KVCC’s business-education-technology part along I-94 and 9th Street. It serves as Dana's worldwide office and research-and-development facility for the commercial vehicle market.
Dana Corp. is one of the world's largest suppliers of components, modules, and complete systems to global vehicle manufacturers and their related aftermarkets. Founded in 1904 and based in Toledo, Ohio, the company operates some 300 major facilities in 34 countries and employs more than 75,000 people.
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