U-Mich Inks R&D Deals with Chinese Partners

The University of Michigan this week signed agreements with several Chinese organizations to jointly study and develop new mobility systems and other transportation technologies.

The largest initiative is a five-year partnership with the Beijing Institute of Collaborative Innovation (BICI) and Peking University for a Global Collaboratory in Advanced Manufacturing. BICI will fund the $25 million program, which will use the internet of things, rapid response and automated manufacturing processes to develop new systems.

The U-Mich also signed a three-year deal with ride-hailing specialist DiDi Chuxing to better understand transportation behaviors, reduce congestion and improve mobility. The nearly $1 million research program focuses on transportation optimization, big data, artificial language learning and artificial intelligence.

In addition, the U-Mich signed a memorandum of understanding with Beijing-based Tus-Holdings’ Tus-International and TusStar units to develop and deploy smart mobility, medicine and other advanced technologies. Tus-Holdings is affiliated with Tsinghua University.