Northampton County, NC --- In notices published this past weekend, the North Carolina Center for Automotive Research (NCCAR) launched the second of three construction contracts for Phase 1A construction of the center’s automotive research, development and testing facilities. This second contract solicitation is for construction of the center’s 23,620 square-foot engineering, garage and administration building and the site entry security building. Project architectural firm AKTAI (www.architectskt.com) issued the notice to plan houses and contractors and published the notice statewide on Sunday.

Tim Kurmaskie, President of AKTAI commented, “From day one, the NCCAR board of directors has insisted that the Center’s facilities be built to anticipate and accommodate the future generation research, development and testing requirements of the international automotive industry. In meeting that intent, we’ve closely consulted with the project team and the State Construction Office and the resulting design fully meets the challenge of blending industry demand with state objectives.”

The Phase 1A operations building will include six fully-equipped, double-bay client garages with integrated offices and secure storage; three engineering suites with individual offices and bull-pen areas; and conferencing facilities. NCCAR officials describe the facility as being designed to provide clients a very user-friendly environment for conveniently, efficiently and effectively conducting their work.

Simon Cobb, NCCAR’s chief operating officer, noted “The design integrates office, garage and support functions such that engineers and technicians can conduct their work at NCCAR as if they were working at their own facilities. Plus, fully-secure high-speed internet connectivity in the operations building, coupled with WiFi which will be available across the site, will provide for virtually seamless communications and data transmission.”

Project officials have scheduled a December 16, 2008 mandatory 10:00 a.m. onsite visit and 2:00 p.m. pre-bid conference for potential building contractors, and intend to conduct the bid-opening on January 29, 2009. Officials also commented that site construction continues to proceed steadily, with great progress on earthworks for the ride & handling course and integrated vehicle dynamics area.

About NCCAR: The North Carolina Center for Automotive Research (NCCAR) is a modern automotive testing facility for use in the design, development, testing and certification of advanced vehicle technologies, sub-systems and components. NCCAR is a State funded initiative that is designed to combine the resources and skills of North Carolina's industries, academic institutions and strategies to put North Carolina at the front of advanced vehicle technologies and hence jobs The Research Center is a public-private partnership that matches the talents of multi-national automotive companies with those of North Carolina's leading universities. NCCAR is world class and focused on next generation research and development in the automotive industry. For more information, www.nccar.us