Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center, Inc. (HATCI) has partnered with the University of Michigan on two advanced automotive engineering projects focused on distracted driving and fuel economy. With its main campus located near HATCI’s Superior Township., Mich., location, the University of Michigan is able to provide a deep pool of top-tier scholastic talent and is a logical partner for HATCI. The new projects will pair graduate students and professors from the University’s College of Engineering and School of Kinesiology with HATCI vehicle engineers to work alongside each other to produce unique solutions to ever-changing customer needs and technology challenges.
“While we’ve had many collaborative efforts in the past, this partnership marks the beginning of a much longer-term and more focused relationship that will continue to grow in the coming years,” remarked Dr. Sung Hwan Cho, president, HATCI. “Combining the unbridled enthusiasm and free-spirited thinking of graduate students from a world-class university with the talented technical minds found within HATCI, we can explore new ways in which to approach significant technological hurdles in the automotive industry.”
Besides collaborative research, the partnership will also provide an engineering recruiting opportunity for HATCI, targeting University of Michigan graduates, and will help retain engineering talent in the local area.
“These new research collaborations with the Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center demonstrate the multi-disciplinary nature of automotive research and have the potential to catalyze further research at the University of Michigan as well as to inform our educational mission,” said Umesh Patel, senior director at U-M’s Business Engagement Center. “We look forward to the opportunity to strengthen and expand our partnership.”
