The Institute for Advanced Vehicle Systems (IAVS) is an institute within the College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS). The Institute was created directly as a result of the vision of Heinz Prechter with the mission to conduct design, development and manufacturing research on advanced vehicle systems. It was established through a grant from the World Heritage Foundation--The Prechter Fund. Since then other companies and organizations provided additional funding to support the work of IAVS.

Faculty and students from CECS participate in the activities of IAVS when their research interests are congruent with those of IAVS. They are joined in many cases by faculty and students from partner colleges and universities. The institute's focus is on "systems," especially those related to the design, development and manufacturing of complex vehicles. The goal of IAVS is to conduct research related to body, chassis, and electrical/electronic systems, manufacturing processes, and integration with powertrain systems.

IAVS is wrapping up its first "driving project", the creation of a Low Mass Vehicle (LMV). The LMV is intended to be an affordable but appealing vehicle similar to the Toyota Echo in price, features, space, and performance but with 30% less mass. It is intended to be profitable in low volumes with low piece cost and investment. The purpose for choosing this "driving project" with its extremely aggressive targets is to stimulate break-through, cross-disciplinary approaches to vehicle design and engineering.

The body of the low mass vehicle was designed in a student competition at the College for Creative Studies (CCS). A panel of industry experts chose the design created by CCS student Herain Patel. His design was chosen because the judges felt it had the highest potential of achieving the stringent weight, cost, and investment objectives while not sacrificing occupant comfort. The LMV body was designed with 14 body panels compared to 32 for similar vehicles. It requires only 3 glass molds compared to 8 in similar vehicles.

The LMV interior design was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, co-sponsored by IAVS and the American Plastics Council, each student in a CCS Senior Interior Design Class created an interior design for the LMV. In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, each design needed to minimize weight, cost, and investment. Designs also had to conform to engineering standards. A panel of industry experts evaluated all of the students' designs and chose Jeff Bonner's design to be the LMV interior design. In the second phase CCS student Jeff Bonner and UM-D student Huzefa Mamoola worked with UM-D and CCS faculty as well as with industry professionals completed the design and advance engineering of the LMV interior

Since then a progression of projects was conducted to advance the design and engineering of the LMV. Over thirty LMV research projects have been conducted including four still in process. Research areas include body and interior design and engineering, powertrain performance and emissions simulation, supply chain management, ergonomics, vehicle electronics, and hybrid electric vehicle power management.