The Virginia Tech Performance Engineering Research Lab (PERL) was established in 2005 by Dr. Steve Southward at the IALR in Danville, VA. PERL is one of the newest labs affiliated with the Center for Vehicle Systems & Safety (CVeSS).
The mission of the Performance Engineering Research Lab is to enhance the performance of sport, military, industrial, and commercial vehicles & components with the development and application of innovative signal processing and active & adaptive control strategies. Our goal is to advance the state-of-the-art in vehicle suspension design, testing, and optimization with breakthrough innovations for improving vehicle ride and handling.
Dr. Southward received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1990 in the area of nonlinear control systems. After serving fifteen years at Lord Corporation designing advanced sensor systems and adaptive control systems for the aerospace industry, Dr. Southward joined Virginia Tech in August 2005 as an associate professor of Mechanical Engineering. In addition to establishing and directing PERL research, Dr. Southward is also currently the Technical Director of VIPER Services.
The PERL facility and the office of Dr. Southward are located at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (www.ialr.org) in Danville, Virginia, which is a little over two hours drive from the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg. In partnership with Virginia Tech, the Institute is a state-of-the-art facility that serves as a catalyst for transforming the community and economy of Southside Virginia through advanced technology.
VIPER Services (www.viperservice.com) is one of the newest regional additions to the Virginia Motorsports Alley. VIPER is a partnership between IALR, VT, ODU, and VIR that provides test services to the motorsports industry. Technology developed in PERL can be transferred directly into VIPER to advance the commercial offering.