The University of Michigan launches transportation technology commercialisation pilot M-TRAC.
The University of Michigan (UM) and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation have launched a new pilot project to accelerate the commercialisation of promising transportation technologies.
The Michigan Translational Research and Commercialisation (M-TRAC) programme will provide funding for promising research projects developed at UM’s College of Engineering and Transportation Research Institute out of an initial pool of $330k.
M-TRAC will be overseen by an 11 member committee, drawing on expertise from transportation, venture capitalist, and university sectors.
Gary Smyth, one of the oversight committee members, said: “Advanced vehicle technologies will provide more value for customers and ultimately revolutionise personal mobility. But to fully realise the promise of electrified, connected and autonomous driving vehicles requires a concerted effort by automotive OEMs, suppliers, governments and university research centres. The M-TRAC Transportation Program will be an important Michigan resource for advanced automotive research, technology commercialization and transportation market development.”
M-TRAC will begin distributing initial of awards between $50k and $75k from December.
