Allison Transmission Inc. will co-sponsor Emerging Technology Day to be held in May 2011 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). This event is part of the IMS’s 100th Anniversary Indy 500 celebration.

The event will highlight innovative renewable technologies by some of the brightest young minds in America. Three main competitions will be featured: The Formula Hybrid, an exhibition competition that challenges university students to design, build and race high-performance, plug-in hybrid vehicles, The American Solar Challenge, a competition to design, build and drive solar-powered cars, and a Purdue University electric-powered kart race. 

“Allison’s sponsorship of Emerging Technology Day is a natural extension of our commitment to developing future technologies and to building strong relationships with university talent and the Speedway, Indiana community,” said Allison Transmission VP of Engineering, Randall Kirk.

Allison Transmission was started by James Allison, one of the original founders of the IMS and team owner of the 1919 winning Indy 500 car. As a result, Allison and the IMS have enjoyed an association for almost 100 years.

Today, Allison’s vision of driving transmission technology has made them a premier global provider of commercial duty automatic transmissions and the world’s largest producer of commercial hybrid systems, according to the company.

Allison was one of the first to develop a commercial hybrid system for transit buses, and now their product is in nearly 3,000 buses around the world accumulating more than 192 million miles and saving 11.7 million gallons of diesel fuel, according to a company statement. This has resulted in over 116,000 metric tons of C02 NOT being dispensed into the atmosphere.

A new Allison hybrid propulsion system is currently in the works for medium-duty trucks that will utilize the most advanced hybrid technology to deliver greater fuel efficiency and performance to even more vehicles.