Toyota reveals results of research with U.S. academic institutions

Toyota Research Institute (TRI) announced the latest results of its collaborative research program with U.S. academic institutions. This initiative has funded USD100 million of research and generated more than 1,250 paper submissions since its inception in 2016, making it one of the largest collaborative research programs by an automotive company in the world.

Partnerships with MIT, Stanford, Columbia, and others address some of the world’s greatest challenges, including aging society, climate change, and human understanding.

The program expanded during 2022 to include 21 university partners and 61 projects focused on energy and materials, human-centered artificial intelligence, human interactive driving, machine learning, and robotics.

“We are deeply satisfied with the results of our partnerships with this outstanding group of institutions and researchers,” said Eric Krotkov, who leads the university research program. “We believe that collaboration is the key to tackling society’s biggest challenges and are confident that this program will continue to achieve new breakthroughs.”

Each project consists of a TRI researcher working with a university team in close collaboration, bridging academia and industry.

“TRI’s collaborations with universities bring a wealth of knowledge and new ideas to our research efforts,” said Brian Storey, senior director of energy and materials at TRI. “This program both helps us create innovative technologies and fosters the next generation of innovative leaders.”

TRI plans to continue the program into 2024 with new additional high-risk, high-reward projects to accelerate the development of key technologies for Toyota.Learn more about TRI’s research efforts on Medium.