Hyundai Mobis, MIT team up for future tech

Michael Schrage, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, lectures on a next-generation IT business model and technologies at the Hyundai Mobis Tech Center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. Courtesy of Hyundai Mobis

By Kwak Yeon-soo

Hyundai Mobis has joined hands with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to accelerate research and development of future vehicle technologies, the company said Monday.

As part of the bilateral partnership efforts, the auto parts maker hosted an IT conference recently at the Hyundai Mobis Tech Center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, inviting MIT professors to share their research outcomes in the areas of information and communication technology (ICT).

Michael Schrage, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, gave a lecture on next-generation business models and technologies at the conference.

The conference was designed to reinforce an academic-industrial collaboration that integrates theory, experiments and data science.

“With a paradigm shift in the automotive industry, we look forward to creating new business models that can enable us to stay ahead of trends and secure innovative technologies,” a Hyundai Mobis official said.

“Teaming up with MIT, we plan to nurture future growth engines by combining our auto parts technologies with ICT technologies such as big data analysis.”

Earlier this year, the company joined the MIT Industrial Liaison Program (ILP) to seek future growth engines.

The MIT ILP is a support program where global corporations and MIT researchers mutually benefit from their collaboration. MIT introduces information and research results on a wide array of areas including ICT, new materials, innovative manufacturing, and healthcare to corporate partners while the companies consistently exchange technologies and information with MIT scholars.

Currently, Korean companies participating in the MIT ILP include Hyundai Motors, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.