Investigating the use of reduction techniques in concept

modeling for vehicle body design optimization

T. Tamarozzi
1
, G. Stigliano
2
, M. Gubitosa
2
, S. Donders
2
, W. Desmet
1

1
K.U.Leuven, Department Mechanical Engineering - http://www.mech.kuleuven.be
Celestijnenlaan 300 B, B-3001, Heverlee, Belgium
e-mail: Tommaso.Tamarozzi@mech.kuleuven.be

2
LMS International - http://www.lmsintl.com
Interleuvenlaan 68, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
e-mail: marco.gubitosa@lmsintl.com

Abstract
The use of Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) tools in the automotive industry is nowadays a confirmed
approach to predict the various functional performance attributes (ride and handling, NVH,
crashworthiness, etc.) and adapt the design based on the outcome of virtual simulations. In particular,
reduction of the time to market has been one of the main thrusts in the automotive sector in the last years,
pushing researchers to find more efficient methods to solve design problems. This paper proposes a
systematic procedure to efficiently evaluate the influence of design changes on the vehicle performance.
The approach is based on a detailed Multibody (MB) model of chassis and suspensions of a passenger car
including its Body In White (BIW) as a flexible element. Several reduction techniques (Guyan, MacNeal,
Beam and Joint concept modelling) have been adopted in order to accurately represent the BIW flexibility,
thus allowing a fast investigation of its influence on different driving scenarios.
1 Introduction
In the last decades the use of CAE techniques has greatly reduced the time required to design new
products. FE and MB techniques which worked in parallel in the past are now being integrated together by
using flexible multibody techniques [1-3]. Detailed FE models for NVH analysis usually consist of a very
large number of degrees of freedom (DOFs) making the integration between the rigid MB simulations a
challenging and time consuming task. The need for expensive physical prototypes is still present even
though the number of iterations between simulation results and tests on new models are being constantly
reduced due to the increasing reliability of virtual models.
In the vehicle industry, design engineers do not have to deal with design of new models from scratch (e.g.
the BIW of a vehicle). Often detailed information from a predecessor CAE model can be re-used, and one
can incorporate carry-over as well as newly designed components to already achieve predictive CAE
models in the concept design stage of vehicle development. This is necessary in order to steer and give
more reliable design guidelines for the first CAD model of the new vehicles, to avoid the need of
substantial modifications at a later stage in the design timeline, when the cost of such changes will be
much higher.
This paper aims to give an overview of the full modeling process of a passenger car in which some of the
above mentioned techniques will be applied together. The methodology will cover the preparation of a
detailed rigid multibody model and the integration of a flexible concept model of the BIW (Fig. 1). The
latter is obtained using a series of different reduction techniques which are briefly described [4-7]. This
approach allows for fast modifications in order to explore different design possibilities to reach defined
targets. Finally examples of ride and handling maneuvers are performed to evaluate the influence of the
4191
body flexibility on some standard ride and handling parameters allowing the assessment of the method for
industrial applications.

Fig. 1 From Full FE to Concept Model.
2 Brief overview of the state of the use of the adopted
methodologies
The creation of a reliable flexible multibody model (FMB) to be used in vehicle dynamics performance
evaluation is a complex task. Many software packages allow to exploit design changes and influence of
various parameters on specific targets. In classical approaches the handling characteristics of vehicles, are
evaluated with the aid of MB models in order to predict their overall behavior using a series of rigid
bodies that are connected through ideal joints and force elements like spring, dampers and bushings. In a
second stage, the reaction forces at the connection points evaluated with these models can be used as
input in classic FE codes to evaluate the NVH characteristics of the considered system, with reasonable
reliability. The need for increasing accuracy and reducing computational time pointed towards coupling
together systems which undergo global large displacements and also local deformations. A number of
methods of interest are outlined in the remainder of this section.
2.1 Flexible Multibody
Different approaches are available in commercial software packages to couple flexibility of elements with
their large global motion. A good review of these methodologies can be found in [1-2]. Three main
approaches are distinguished:
- Floating Frame: a global frame that follows the gross motion of the body describes the large
displacements of the system while a linear FE model or a modal reduction expressed in this local
frame describes the flexibility of the single components;
- Co-rotational Frame: Each finite element of the flexible body is described within a local frame
which follows the net motion of the element;
- Inertial Frame: Flexible motion is described in a global inertial reference frame.
The two last approaches are more recent and can be used also to describe systems that undergo large
deformations. For many vehicle dynamics applications this is not necessary, which explains why the first
methodology is often preferred. The equation of motion of a FMB system using the floating frame of
reference can be described by the equation (1):
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| |{ } | |{ } { } { } { }
0 ) , ( ) , , , (
) , , ( ) , ( ] [ ) (
= u = u
+ = u + +
t q t q R
t q q Q t q Q q K q q M
f
c e T
q
u

(1)
In equation (1), [M(q)] is the mass matrix of the full system and [K] is a block diagonal matrix composed
by the zero matrix in the part related to the floating frame position and orientation and by the constant
stiffness matrix of the flexible bodies; {q} = {R,,q
f
} is the vector of unknowns of the system where R and
represent the position and orientation of the floating frames of reference related to each body and q
f
is
the position of each node of the flexible components (or the modal participation factors of the vibration
modes in case that a modal based reduction technique is adopted). is the set of algebraic constraint
equations relative to the ideal joints present in the model (
q
represents its Jacobian) and Q
e
is the vector
of the generalized forces acting on the bodies. Many software packages give nowadays the possibility to
integrate flexible components in their MB codes using modal based approaches. In that case a full FE
model can be simplified using reduced mass and stiffness matrices that have been obtained by Component
Mode Synthesis (CMS) techniques.
2.2 Component mode synthesis (CMS)
Since FE models of complex systems are typically very large models with many of degrees of freedom, it
is usually impractical to include a full FEM within a MB model within a floating frame of reference
approach. A range of techniques can be used to greatly reduce the number of degrees of freedom keeping
a reasonable accuracy for the displacements of the flexible bodies in the frequency range of interest. The
first author to propose such a reduction was Guyan [8] who reduced with the aid of static vectors the mass
and stiffness matrices of FE models. This simple approach guarantees the modeling of the exact static
behavior and approximate results in the quasi static range up to low frequency dynamics. To include a
correct representation of both the static and dynamic response of the system in the model many authors [6-
7] have proposed to use different sets of dynamically responding vectors (namely normal modes of
vibration obtained using different boundary conditions at the interface points) and a set of static vectors
computed applying unit loads or unit displacements to the original systems in all the DOFs that would
have been loaded during the simulation. The combined set of dynamic and static vectors is used for the
reduction of the FE mass and stiffness matrix. In this way the solution is guaranteed to be exact at 0Hz and
high accuracy is obtained when all the excited dynamic modes are included in the normal modes base.
Often, as a rule of thumb, normal modes up to 1.5-2 times the maximum frequency of the excitation
spectrum are included in the normal modes base.
The reduction procedure of the full FEM with the aid of the selected static and dynamic modal base is
summarized by eq. (2-3)
| | | | | | | | | |
)
`

=
)
`

+
)
`

i
e T
q s
i
e
q s
ii ie
ei ee T
q s
i
e
q s
ii ie
ei ee T
q s
f
f
x
x
K K
K K
x
x
M M
M M
| | | | |


(2)
| | | |
)
`

=
)
`

+
)
`

q
x e
R
e
R
f
f
q
x
K
q
x
M


(3)
Here
s
represents the static vectors set,
q
the normal modes set, the suffix e stand for external DOFs
(where loads are applied), i stands for internal (not loaded) DOFs and q for the dynamic modal
participation factors.
The decision of the type of normal and static modes is often a matter of experience and is mainly driven
by the engineering judgment related to the boundary conditions of the flexible component under analysis.
Normal modes can be computed by imposing different boundary conditions (BCs) at the location where
the flexible body is connected to the rest of the structure. Generally, when the BCs are considered to
VEHICLE CONCEPT MODELLING 4193
constrain the component in a very rigid way, fixed interface normal modes are adopted. When the BCs are
instead less stiff (e.g. connection with soft springs), free-free interface BCs are imposed. The selection of
static modes brings the same static response of the original FE model provided that a statically complete
set is adopted [7]. This means that a static mode should be included in the set for each interface DOF as
well as for any DOF that is externally loaded. In complex structures like a car BIW, where the input and
boundary locations are multiple and the true BCs are often unknown a priori the selection of the proper
modal base is not trivial. Note here that by introducing static modes, one also introduces spurious
eigenfrequencies at high frequency. These are not representative of any physical behavior. Thus when
running a simulation, the engineer has to verify the way these modes are treated by the adopted software
program. Solvers with numerical damping allow smoothening of the solution in the frequency domain
above a certain frequency level [9]. Other common techniques are the application of modal damping to the
static modes or modification of the modal mass matrix to shift these peaks at different frequencies.
In this work different reduction techniques have been applied to a vehicle BIW application case, and
finally the selection of free-free normal modes and static attachment modes was chosen.
2.3 Beams and Joint concept modeling
One of the main drawbacks of CMS techniques is that, even though the proper dynamics of the reduced
component is well captured, it is often difficult to quickly make modifications to the model in order to
evaluate different design changes. As highlighted in the introduction (Fig. 1) the original FEM of the BIW
of a passenger vehicle was reduced and combined with a detailed MB model describing driveline and
suspensions. The aim is to explore the influence of the flexibility of the BIW on the ride and handling
performance in view of quick troubleshooting related to different design modification.
Adopting standard CMS techniques on the full body is quite impractical for sensitivity analysis since a
new reduction should be performed for each modification to be applied to the original FEM. The reduction
procedure is relatively time consuming for models comprising millions of DOFs. For this main reason the
top part of the car BIW has been reduced following a concept modeling approach named Beam and Joints
[11]. This methodology proposes the reduction of thin-walled beam-like structures into simple beam
elements. In the considered BIW a group of beam-like structures that are originally modeled with shell
elements is replaced by equivalent beams whose properties are computed by means of a local beam
optimization procedure as described in [5;11]. After this reduction is performed all the beams are
connected together by means of the original joints reduced with the Guyan technique. The top part of the
vehicle is then attached to the remainder part of the BIW which has been reduced by means of 25 free-free
normal modes and static attachment modes at the connections with driveline, suspensions and sub-frame.
The layout of the reduced model is shown in Fig. 2. This methodology has been validated and it has been
shown that reliable results are obtained regarding the static response of the system both in bending and
torsion. Moreover the modes up to the 8
th
resonance frequency were found to have a high value of the
Modal Assurance Criterion (MAC) when compared to the original FE model and a small error on the
predicted natural frequencies (Table 1). Mode number 6 was instead not detected properly, probably due
to the fact that it is a local mode of one of the roof beams and the concept model was not able to detect it
in a correct way. Note that the concept model is mainly aimed to provide insights relating to the global
flexible behavior of the BIW so that it is not strictly needed to produce accurate local information e.g. at a
particular location on the beam-like structures. Table 1 also shows results related to percentage difference
between the eigenfrequencies of the original model and of two variants of the flexible BIW in which the
beams and remainder stiffness properties were modified. These models will be more accurately discussed
in the next sections.
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Fig. 2: The reduced Concept modeling and MAC (0.3-1 scale) comparison of the connection nodes
wrt to the original model
REFERENCE
MODEL
MODES #
ORIGINAL
CONCEPT MODEL
Error %
MOD. BEAMS
CONCEPT MODEL
Difference %
MOD. REMAINDER
CONCEPT MODEL
Difference %
1 1.3% 2.8% 9.2%
2 1.2% 8.4% 9.5%
3 0.1% 0.0% 14.9%
4 0.5% 0.9% 12.8%
5 0.0% 0.7% 14.0%
6 NOT DETECTED
7 0.3% 0.7% 14.1%
8 2.2% 2.5% 13.0%
9 0.3% 3.8% 13.8%
Table 1 : % error and differences between eigenfreq. of the original model and of the 3 variants of
the flexible BIW
3 The Rigid MB model and the integration of the flexible BIW
Starting from an industrial FE model of a full vehicle (provided by a car manufacturer), a detailed MB
model has been prepared with the aid of the software LMS Virtual.Lab Motion [21]. The mass and inertia
properties of all the rigid bodies have been evaluated and the location of all the connection points between
the bodies has been extracted. The vehicle under analysis is a rear wheel drive (RWD) model mounting a
multilink back suspension and a McPherson type front suspension. The bushings connecting the
suspension links to the BIW and to the subframe have been mainly modeled with static non-linear stiffness
and damping characteristics. Shock absorbers have been modeled with non-linear stiffness and damping
properties; bump and rebound stops have been included as well. The steering system has been modeled by
means of kinematic joints. The driveline masses and connections have also been included. The vehicle
was driven by velocity drivers applied to the revolute joint between the wheel rims and the spindles. The
exhaust pipe has been modeled as a rigid body, rigidly bracketed to the engine block. Two torsion bars
(front and rear) have also been included by means of concentrated rotational springs. Windshields, doors
and roof have not been included in this preliminary study even if it can be shown that they play a major
role in the torsional stiffness characteristics of a BIW.
The model with the conceptual BIW is shown in Fig (3). The total weight is about 1240 kg, 74 rigid
bodies and one flexible are connected via 65 ideal joints (bracket, rotational, spherical, CV, etc.) and 75
force elements (spring, damper, tyre, bushings, etc.). Table 2 shows some of the details and settings of the
MF tyre (i.e. Delft Tyre by TNO [22]) model adopted for the simulations.
VEHICLE CONCEPT MODELLING 4195
Tyre Characteristics

Tyre operational settings
Tyre Weigth [ kg] 9.3 Contact Type used Smooth road / 2d road
Rim Radius [mm] 190 Dynamics Non Linear Relaxation / Rigid Ring
Width [mm] 152 Slip Forces Combined slip
Unload Radius [mm] 312

Table 2 : Tyre model characteristics

Fig. 3 : The flexible multibody model under analysis
After the preparation of the rigid MB model (addressed to as RIGID), three different flexible BIW models
have been prepared. The first model (denoted as FLEX from here onwards) is the one described in section
2.3 which allowed for an accurate description of the global modes up to around 36 Hz. In the second
model (BEAMS FLEX) the inertia properties of the beams (Ixx, Ixy, Iyy, Izz) were reduced with 50%
without changing the section area to assess their influence on the global modes. It was found (table 1) that
only a slight frequency shift of the global modes was induced after the 3
rd
frequency while the first two
global modes frequencies (torsion and bending) were reduced. This might indicate that the modes after the
third are only slightly influenced by the beams stiffness while it seems that the remainder part of the
vehicle played a higher role. To further investigate this assumption a fourth model was prepared
(REMAINDER FLEX) keeping the original concept beams and reducing homogeneously the stiffness
property of the steel components of the remainder from 210 GPa to 150 GPa. Table 1 shows that the
remainder stiffness characteristics are highly influencing the global behavior of the BIW for this particular
very stiff BIW model.
For all the simulations, damping related to the spurious frequencies brought into the system by the use of
the static modes in the reduction techniques had to be included. In the present case study a modal damping
was applied to the modes above 36 Hz up to 40% of the critical damping for very high frequency modes.
This decision also avoided a drastic reduction of the time step chosen by the software solver due to the
reduction of high frequency content present in the system.
The four different models were also equipped with virtual sensors (according to ISO 8855 [12]) capable of
evaluating the most important ride and handling parameters as yaw, roll and pitch rate, body slip angle,
vertical acceleration, reaction forces at the most important connection points, etc.
4 Simulation of different drive scenario
The combination of the rigid MB model and of the simplified flexible BIW has been applied on an
industrially relevant case to investigate the influence of the body flexibility on the vehicle handling and
4196 PROCEEDINGS OF ISMA2010 INCLUDING USD2010
ride properties. It is known [13-16; 19] that the bending and especially the torsional stiffness of the body
of the car are key characteristics of a vehicle. It can be understood that if a too compliant body would be
used instead of one with proper stiffness characteristics, this could influence the behavior of the car not
only from the comfort point of view but also due to its potential influence on macroscopic handling
parameters as load transfer, roll motion etc. Publications related to simplified models, especially of long
wheelbase vehicles, investigated the influence of body flexibility on the ride behavior [17]. A few works
also investigated the influence of body flexibility on handling parameters [14; 16]. These investigations
showed interesting results and provided a deeper understanding of some of the complex mechanisms
modeled in the present case study. Another important aspect is the lack of a validated test methodology to
compare simulation results and test procedures, due to the fact that usually an accurate measure of the
forces arising at the connection points between the body of the vehicles and e.g. the suspension system is
rarely available. Recently, some works [15; 19] have proposed test methodologies for predicting the
flexibility influences on the handling behavior of vehicles, and some guidelines have been derived to
correlate non-standard handling parameters with subjective rating given by test drivers.
When the torsional stiffness of the BIW is high (few times more than the roll stiffness of the suspension-
torsion bar system), it was shown that the influence of the flexibility of the body is quite low [14]. This is
the case in many scenarios, especially when high performance cars are being evaluated, however with the
advent of lightweight materials used in the car industry to reduce the weight of the vehicles (which are
more and more loaded by a number of actuators to complement with active safety features) this trend
might change in the future. It is important for engineers to properly analyze the limit that cannot be
exceeded in order to have proper ride and handling behavior.
The next sections show some results obtained by simulating different driving scenarios.
4.1 Scenario 1: Double Lane Change

Fig. 4 : ISO Double lane change test performed by the flexible MB model
The first maneuver is a transient handling maneuver named Double Lane Change. This maneuver is
performed according to the ISO 3888-1 Part 1 [18]. This test is usually performed for subjective
evaluation of vehicle handling response in transient behavior. The steering input (Fig. 5) is not regulated
by the norm so that the driver ability has a large impact on the test results [18]. This simulation was
mainly performed as a starting point to allow comparing the driver subjective feelings and objective
measured data and to initiate an investigation to improve correlations between parameters related to the
body flexibility and the subjective rating of test drivers.
A number of relevant handling parameters have been compared between the four different models
showing a very small influence of the modeled flexibility. The Yaw and Roll rate were found to be almost
identical. Fig. 6 and 7 show the lateral displacement of the vehicle and the differences between left and
right reaction forces at the spring connection points between the back suspension and the BIW. Even in
VEHICLE CONCEPT MODELLING 4197
this case only small differences are reported and it can be seen that the different flexible models (FLEX,
BEAM FLEX and REMAINDER FLEX) behave very similarly: differences up to maximum 100 N are
found. It is interesting to notice that the load transfer is higher when flexible elements are involved. It was
shown for simplified models [14] that, depending on the roll stiffness distribution between front and rear,
this might in fact be the case. The results could be explained by the following observations:
- The vehicle BIW under analysis is quite stiff and representative of sporty sedan car.
- The concept flexible model used is not able to represent accurately local compliances at the
connection points between the BIW, the suspensions and the driveline. The precise modeling of
the local stiffness is important to accurately evaluate the reaction forces at the connection points.
Further work including validation of the connection compliances through experimental data is
foreseen.
For the integration of the flexible body with the rigid MB model, an assumption has been made for the
integration of the flexible body with the rigid MB model. More specifically, the flexible body is included
adopting a modal reduction of the full concept BIW and lumping the rigid mass and inertia characteristics
at the BIW center of gravity. Since the results are in good agreement with some other reported
investigations [14; 16; 19], it is expected that this assumption does not adversely affect the quality of
results. Still, the validity of the assumption will be checked as part of follow-up research.

Fig. 5 : Steering input as function of time

4198 PROCEEDINGS OF ISMA2010 INCLUDING USD2010

Fig. 6 : Double Lane Change BIW C.G. y displacement

Fig. 7 : Double Lane Change Differences in the load transfer at the back suspension
4.2 Scenario 2: Sweep Steer
This type of simulation is not related to an ISO maneuver. However, the maneuver is useful to provide
insights relative to the vehicle dynamics in an objective manner. The vehicle is kept at a constant speed of
80 km/h and the steering input is linearly varied between 0.2 and 4 Hz (Fig. 8). Even if the steering input
introduces a low frequency input into the vehicle system, compared to the first resonance peaks related to
the deformation modes, it is possible that complex interactions between the flexible body deformation and
the rigid MB model arise, also due to the high nonlinearity of the system. In this case it was found that at
very low input frequencies (0.2-2.5 Hz) the models are behaving almost identically; when the stimulus
frequency is increased (2.5-3.5 Hz) some differences started to arise. Around 3 Hz, one of the
eigenfrequencies of the MB model is found, which has been checked via linearization procedures in
several configurations. Fig. 8 highlights the fact that the yaw rate amplitude of the rigid model has slightly
higher values compared to the one observed with the flexible body. This behavior can be explained by
considering the possible interaction between the global modes of the vehicle and the flexible modes of the
vehicle body. Similar trends were found by comparing torsion bar torque and roll rate. These results can
be compared with the simplified model analyzed in [14]. In that case it was shown that the tendency of
VEHICLE CONCEPT MODELLING 4199
increasing the BIW stiffness (with as limit case the rigid body) tends to increase the damping of the yaw
mode. As a result, one can notice higher amplitudes of the yaw rate response for the rigid case at
frequencies that are slightly higher than the yaw resonance frequency. It is also interesting to underline
that the rate of change in the sweep frequency also influences the vehicle response. Again the three
flexible models behave very similarly between each other.

Fig. 8 : Steering input and Yaw rate (with zoom) related to the BIW C.G.
4.3 Scenario 3: Ride over a Bump
The simulation was performed with the car riding over a bump of 5 cm of height and 30 cm of length at a
constant speed close to 80 km/h. In this way the frequency spectrum of the input is supposed to be
broader, potentially exciting the BIW resonance frequencies. Fig. 9 shows the reaction force in the local
axial direction of a radial bushing (one of the engine mounts). In this case the different models seem to
behave differently, especially in the decaying phase. The flexible models seem to decay with a slightly
lower frequency with respect to the rigid body. Moreover, the more flexible are the models
(REMAINDER FLEX) the larger is the time delay in the response. This could be due to the fact that the
flexible models tend to oscillate at a slightly lower frequency as compared to the rigid model and also to
the local stiffness properties at the mount connections. The pitch rate was also analyzed and showed a
similar trend.

Fig. 9 Engine Mount reaction force
The vertical acceleration response is one of the standard outputs which are used to evaluate maneuvers
such as the ride over a bump. Two locations have been analyzed; the vertical acceleration at the center of
gravity (C.G.) of the BIW and the local vertical acceleration at a position of a node placed on the right b-
4200 PROCEEDINGS OF ISMA2010 INCLUDING USD2010
pillar with vertical position similar to the one of the BIW C.G.. Fig. 10 shows that some high frequency
behavior is reported in both responses for the flexible models. The C.G. response is influenced by the
redistribution of the loads around all the connection points of the BIW. The differences are clear but less
evident as compared to the ones encountered at the node location. Similar behavior for the C.G. position
has also been reported in [16]. The nodal responses are characterized by higher differences during the
bump hit as well. Note again that the nodal response represents local phenomena which are highly
influenced by the local behavior of the different concept models implemented and, as such, they do not
represent a global characteristic of the vehicle.

Fig. 10 : Vertical acceleration responses at the BIW C.G. and at a nodal position
A frequency spectrum of the above mentioned vertical acceleration is presented in Fig. 11. Here it can be
seen that the spectrum relative to the C.G. acceleration is similar between the different model up to about
24 Hz. Above this frequency we can see the influence of all the activated normal modes of the BIW;
especially the spectrum relative to the more flexible model is the one that presents more differences. As
expected even more variations are present in the spectrum of the nodal acceleration due to the local
contribution of the flexible modes up to around 36 Hz.

Fig. 11 : Frequency spectrum of the BIW C.G. and nodal vertical acceleration
5 Conclusions
In this paper different reduction methodologies have been applied on a flexible BIW of a commercial
vehicle. Integrations with a rigid MB model of a full vehicle have been performed with the aid of
commercial software. The proposed approach and in particular the use of the concept flexible BIW in a
MB context is suitable for fast stiffness modifications which could be useful at early design stage.
VEHICLE CONCEPT MODELLING 4201
Optimization procedure can be run in a fast way to find optimal stiffness values for the desired vehicles
dynamics characteristics allowing comparisons between different setups in a relatively short time.
For this particular stiff model only slight influences of the modeled flexibility are found. Some transient
maneuvers have been simulated; steady state analysis can be also addressed with the aid of a similar
model. Generally, the presented results show a fair agreement with the scarce literature related to the
topic.
In later works the inclusion of the flexible BIW in the MB model will be refined as pointed out in section
4. In particular more design modifications could be explored and higher attention should be given to local
stiffness characteristics of the connection points of the BIW to accurately model interface reaction forces,
through validation with test data.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the European Commission for their support of the Marie Curie ITN
VECOM FP7-213543, from which Tommaso Tamarozzi, Giambattista Stigliano and Marco Gubitosa
hold an Initial Training Grant (http://www.vecom.org/)

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