Be a part of the future of mobility on the U-M campus. Learn from and work with industry innovators and U-M researchers, engineers and social scientists.
What You Can Do at Mcity
- Apply for scholarships through The Michigander EV Scholars program
- Work with emerging startups on real-world CAV projects through Perot Jain TechLab at Mcity
- Explore opportunities involving electric vehicle projects and climate change solutions through other TechLab programs
- Provide your résumé for industry, startups, government and nonprofit Mcity Members
- Join the Mcity community
Benefits of Joining the Mcity Community
- Jump-start your career in transportation and mobility innovation
- Access research and insights
- Gain exposure to industry leaders, startups, academic researchers and other students interested in mobility innovations
Michigander Scholars Program
The University of Michigan is partnering with the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to foster hiring in the electric vehicle and mobility industries by providing companies with direct access to engineering students. Michigan State University and Michigan Technological University are involved in the pilot program as well.
Michigander Scholars receive scholarships of $5,000 if they are hired as an intern by a participating company, and $10,000 if hired for a full-time position.
Matching Students with Startups
Perot Jain TechLab at Mcity provides students an opportunity to participate in sponsored company projects, giving them experience in developing cutting-edge technology at early-stage companies in the connected and automated vehicle industry. The TechLab course offered by Michigan Engineering operates as an independent study, providing students a unique opportunity to explore coursework outside of a dedicated Michigan Engineering program and work with peers, colleagues, and faculty across multiple disciplines. Perot Jain TechLab is managed by Michigan Engineering’s Center for Entrepreneurship, in partnership with Mcity.
TechLab opportunities are also available to work on electric vehicle projects and climate change solutions.
Mcity Open Roads Fund
The U-M College of Engineering has established the Mcity Open Roads Fund to help remove cost barriers faced by U-M faculty and students who want to use Mcity facilities in their research but do not have a funding sponsor.
The Open Roads Fund would subsidize 90% of the cost of using Mcity resources, such as the Mcity Test Facility and all of its features; the current rate for U-M faculty is about $2,400 per day. Or researchers might want to use a vehicle from Mcity’s Open CAV Fleet of open-source connected and automated research vehicles; the rate is about $400 per vehicle.
These resources typically operate on a recharge model, which means operating costs are divided into user fees annually. User rates are then set based on the previous year’s operating budget. All users at U-M pay the same rate for access.
For sponsored research projects, these fees can be incorporated into the cost planning process and are readily accounted for. But for more ad-hoc experimentation, proof-of-concept work ahead of a larger project, and for educational use, these costs can be a barrier.
Funding is available on a first-come, first served basis.
Guidelines for Use
- Self-funded research or educational use only; not for use with industry/government-sponsored research
- Maximum of five days per principal investigator (PI) or team, per year for Mcity Test Facility
- Researchers agree to submit a short summary of the testing value following use of Mcity facilities, which can be made public.
Eligibility
- U-M College of Engineering faculty and student teams are eligible.
- 90% subsidy of cost to use Mcity Test Facility or an Mcity research vehicle.
- Self-funded research, educational use.
