IUPUI to Establish Autonomous Mobility Initiative
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IUPUI’s School of Engineering and Technology has been awarded a five-year $300,000 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. The university says the funding will be used to develop the Initiative for Electrified and Autonomous Mobility University Center.
The university says the center will serve as a “regional gateway” for government, industry, the public and academia to advance electrified and autonomous vehicles. Additionally, the center aims to help develop a highly-skilled workforce and catalyze new business development in intelligent transportation systems.
“IEAM will help Indiana advance to the forefront of autonomous and electrified mobility technologies, which will vastly transform human and freight mobility, providing new economic opportunities as intelligent transportation systems evolve,” said Razi Nalim, associate dean for research. “Adoption of digital control and communication technologies that assist drivers or support autonomous operation will help improve Indiana’s manufacturing and logistics, and protect vulnerable road users, while electric vehicles can help improve the environment globally. Research at TASI and other labs at IUPUI, in collaboration with world-class companies, is already contributing to key advancements, standards setting and rigorous technology testing in these fields.”
The initiative will also work to create a strategic plan for the state’s vision for electrified and autonomous vehicle transportation systems.
“Electrified and autonomous technologies have the potential to disrupt the status quo, alter how people live and work, rearrange value pools, and lead to entirely new products and services,” said Clayton Nicholas, industry research development specialist at the School of Engineering and Technology. “This requires decisions on how to invest in new forms of education, workforce development and infrastructure, by discerning how disruptive economic change will affect various regions.”
In addition to Nalim and Nicholas, the IUPUI team consists of Yaobin Chen, director of TASI and a professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Mark Frohlich, associate professor of operations management in the Kelley School of Business at IUPUI and director of its Center for Excellence in Manufacturing.
The funding comes from the EDA’s 2021 University Center Economic Development Program Competition.
You can connect to more information about the initiative by clicking here.