TechLab at Mcity is set to bring together students, university researchers and transport startups to push forward development of driverless car technologies.
Michigan University’s Center for Entrepreneurship and its smart vehicle development program Mobility Transformation Center (MTC) are co-piloting TechLab at Mcity, an accelerator uniting students, transportation startups and university-led research.
The program is designed to leverage the combined engineering skills from the university and the facilities from MTC to bring driverless cars and associated technologies to market.
Mcity is a controlled vehicle testing site aimed at the research and development of driverless cars. It was co-created by the university and the state of Michigan’s Department of Transportation in July 2015.
TechLab’s first participant is Zendrive, a US-based startup that recently completed a $13.5m series A round.
Zendrive uses artificial intelligence and mobile sensors to measure driver safety levels by monitoring actions such as acceleration, braking, swerving and mobile phone use.
Thomas Frank, executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, said: “By creating a structure that allows startup companies from around the globe to access top-flight talent and resources that would otherwise be unavailable to them, we believe we have hit upon a model that will create a winning opportunity for all involved.”
