For Immediate Release 
Feb. 23, 2005 
 
Media contact: Ron Cole, YSU manager of news and information services, 330-941-3285. 
 
Parker Hannifin gives $100K for YSU hydraulics research 
 
  Parker Hannifin Corp. has awarded a $100,000 research grant to YSU’s Hydraulic 
Research and Education Center for the development of an intelligent hydraulic system. 
  Shawn Kim, Ganesh Kudav, Hazel Pierson and Daniel Suchora, faculty members in the 
mechanical engineering program in the Rayen College of Engineering and Technology, will use 
the funds to conduct research on flow analysis and virtual prototyping of a piston pump and 
hydraulic system now under development by Parker.  
  Two graduate assistants – Burke Davis and Greg Mazurek – are currently working on the 
project. Two undergraduate students – Becky Grove and Adam Brink – also have been hired to 
assist the faculty members. More graduate and undergraduate student assistants will join the 
team in the near future, said Kim, chair of mechanical engineering, who serves as the director of 
the center.  
  Parker, the world’s leading diversified manufacturer of motion and control technologies 
and systems, has been supporting the development of the Hydraulics Research and Education 
Center in Moser Hall at YSU for more than two years.  
  The company, whose Youngstown operations used to be part of Commercial Intertech 
Corp., which merged with Cleveland-based Parker Hannifin in 2000, has donated more than 
$100,000 in equipment, including hydraulic and pneumatic trainers and an industrial-size 
hydraulic test stand. Last year, the company provided a separate $62,000 research grant.  
  “The collaboration effort is a fine example of a unique and successful partnership 
between academia and industry,” Kim said. 
 
(more) 
  
Parker Hannifin/Add 1 
 
  He said Parker’s Lewis Kasper, business unit manager, and Howard Zhang, research 
specialist, have been leading the YSU-Parker partnership. 
  “What’s really great about this project is that what I’m doing here is going to be used to 
help Parker make some really important decisions in terms of product development,” said Grove, 
one of the undergraduate assistants. “It’s a practical application of what I’m learning in the 
classroom.”  
  Kim said the research project will run through Sept, 16, 2005. Depending on the outcome 
of the project, the research could be extended, he said. 
  Cynthia Hirtzel, dean of the YSU Rayen College of Engineering and Technology, said 
faculty, staff, and students in the college are particularly proud of this initiative because it 
provides research opportunities and collaborations that benefit the community, industry, faculty 
and students.   
  “Initiatives of this type are increasing in the college and represent just one aspect of the 
outstanding programs and people we have here,” she said.  
 
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