Michigan State University announced today that the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification has established a new partnership agreement with MSU’s Indy Autonomous Challenge team, PoliMOVE-MSU. The collaboration supports a variety of the team’s activities, helping to provide students with hands-on experiential learning with the latest connected and automated vehicle, or CAV, technologies in a unique and demanding team environment. This agreement also will enable MSU to engage Michigan K-12 STEAM students in the future of mobility by providing access to the IAC team through events, campus tours and race event visits.

In December, MSU announced it would be joining Politecnico di Milano, a prominent research university in Milan, Italy, to compete in the IAC under the team name PoliMOVE-MSU, marking the first time a team from Michigan has competed in the IAC racing series. MSU’s official involvement with the IAC program kicked off at the Consumer Technology Association’s CES event on Jan. 11 in Las Vegas, where the team demoed a new IAC AV-24, retrofitted with hardware and controls to enable autonomous control, as well as artificial intelligence drivers programmed by team members.  

The IAC features autonomous Indy-style, driverless, high-powered race cars that can reach speeds near 200 mph. Launched in 2019, it brings together academic institutions and public-private partnerships to challenge university students from across the world to invent and prove out new generations of automated vehicle software.

“We are grateful to have the support of the Office of Future Mobility and Electrification and the state’s Chief Mobility Officer, Justine Johnson, as we embark on the future of autonomous racing,” said Judd Herzer, MSU Mobility director. “As a top-three focus area for MSU, MSU Mobility is dedicated to developing mobility talent and strengthening the workforce pipeline. The OFME’s partnership will help us add more students to our race team and provide them line-of-sight into the types of unique and exhilarating careers there are in the mobility sector.”  

The IAC stage allows MSU to develop and showcase research efforts in vehicle lightweighting, electric and autonomous vehicles, battery and energy storage technology and more. Students also get the unique opportunity to experience high-level competition as they prepare for career opportunities in this dynamic space. 

“Michigan’s creativity, innovation and mobility leadership is globally renown; we remain committed as ever to delivering on that leadership by creating opportunities for young people to build exciting and impactful careers in the future of mobility and electrification,” said Johnson. “Our partnership with MSU Mobility is one of many ways that we continue to remind the world that the future of mobility will be driven by the state of Michigan — whether it’s by air, sea, land or racetrack.” 

Most recently, PoliMOVE-MSU team members participated in a challenge in England at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The PoliMOVE-MSU team set a new autonomous record by completing the historical Goodwood hill climb in 66.37 seconds and achieved another record with its top speed of 179 kph during the challenge. Next up is a head-to-head race of the world’s fastest autonomous racecars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sept. 6, 2024. 

To engage with MSU’s IAC race team or become a Checkered Flag or Green Flag supporter with a “front row” seat to experience the future of racing, please contact David Bertram or 517-927-3525.