Hyundai Motor Commits to Jointly Research
Future Mobility with Technion and KAIST
‘HTK Consortium for Future Mobility Research’ to accelerate developments in autonomous driving, cyber security, and artificial intelligence
Hyundai Motor targets Israel’s best start-ups to create next generation automotive technologies
September 6, 2017 – Hyundai Motor has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) to conduct joint R&D projects around future mobility technologies. The company and the globally renowned institutes will work together with a collective goal to quickly and effectively respond to rapidly changing needs and environments associated with the automotive industry.
The newly-signed agreement will see the company and the universities form the ‘HTK Consortium for Future Mobility Research’, to do research to accelerate developments in advanced future technologies, beginning with autonomous driving, cyber security, and artificial intelligence over the coming years.
Hyundai Motor will also call on Technion’s significant experience and expertise in working with start-ups, with the Israeli tech institute acting as bridge between Hyundai Motor and emerging companies. The HTK Consortium will discover and incubate prospective start-ups in Israel, providing the support and consultation they need to bring their products and technologies to the market.
“By identifying, nurturing and boosting the work of the best start-ups, we plan to accelerate our global leadership in future mobility,” Tae-won Lim, head of Technology Innovation Center at Hyundai Motor said. “Israel is known around the world for the quality of its start-ups, so with Technion and KAIST’s combined expertise, Hyundai Motor will be well placed to lead the development of the next generation of automotive technology.”
“The 4th industrial revolution is fast changing the automotive industry, bringing with it unique opportunities for those who are bold enough to embrace them,” said Technion President, Prof. Peretz Lavie. “The new consortium brings together the best of both worlds: KAIST and Technion’s outstanding track record in research and innovation combined with Hyundai’s remarkable ability to incorporate cutting edge technology into designing and manufacturing ultra-modern, safe and reliable vehicles. I have no doubt this partnership will have a profound positive influence on the vehicles we will be driving in the near future.”
The collaboration was spearheaded by Hyundai Motor’s Strategic Technology Center, which was launched in February 2017. The Center oversees the company’s research in future technology from AI, advanced materials, energy, and robotics, to the next generation of information communication technologies.
Hyundai Motor Group has a track-record of using start-ups in its projects. Last year a startup created a simulation testing environment for a connected car project jointly led by Hyundai Motor and Cisco.
The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, long a key driver of Israeli innovation, and a hub for the ‘Start-up Nation’, is the country’s oldest university established in 1912. It has earned a reputation as one of the world’s leading science and technology universities and has recently expanded to New York and China. Its three Nobel Prize winners exemplify academic excellence. Technion people, ideas and inventions make immeasurable contributions to the world, in areas including life-saving medicine, sustainable energy, computer science, robotics, water conservation and nanotechnology.
About Hyundai Motor
Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Company is committed to becoming a lifetime partner in automobiles and beyond. The company leads the Hyundai Motor Group, an innovative business structure capable of circulating resources from molten iron to finished cars. Hyundai Motor has eight manufacturing bases and seven design & technical centers worldwide and in 2016 sold 4.86 million vehicles globally. With more than 110,000 employees worldwide, Hyundai Motor continues to enhance its product line-up with localized models and strives to strengthen its leadership in clean technology, starting with the world’s first mass-produced hydrogen-powered vehicle, ix35 Fuel Cell and IONIQ, the world’s first model with three electrified powertrains in a single body type.