Welcome to Planet M
The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) just recently announced the sponsorship of Planet M, a future mobilites partnership intitative of the the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). Joining forces with partners from the public and private sector, the state of Michigan aims to put itself back at the center of of the automobile world by focusing on new, innovative projects. Part of their efforts will be on display during the January 8-12, 2017, NAIAS at AutoMobili-D an exposition dedicated to the latest ideas surrounding the global future of mobility and transportation.
Welcome to the Future of Mobility
AutoMobili-D will feature projects by over 120 companies in a 120,000 sq. ft. exhibition space, including over the participation of 50 tech startups curated by Detroit based Techstarts Mobility. The focus will be on five key issues: Autonomous driving, connected car technologies, E-mobility, urban mobility. John Krafcik, CEO of Google’s Self Driving Car Project will kick off AutoMobili-D with a keynote presentation.
It’s no coincedence that Michigan has set out to be the forefront of future thinking. As the birthplace of the modern automobile industry it already has a legacy of pioneering new developments and new ways of thinking about mobility. The recently launched Planet M project (June 2016) is a way for the state to reignite its engines and make use of its local talent and resources. Michigan is home to the largest concentration of engineers in the US, and is set to host two autonomous vehicle testing sites, Mcity and the American Center for Mobility. Automotive research and development in the state is also supported by the area universities, who combined, invest over $60 million per year. In addition, Michigan will also profit from the cutting edge applied research on autonomous vehicles spearheaded by faculty at the newly opened GM Mobility Research Center at Kettering University. So apparently if you want to know where the automotive world is heading, all roads lead to Michigan’s Planet M.
all images courtesy and copyright of North American International Auto Show
