UCI has opened a new on-campus research facility to study zero-emission, autonomous and connected vehicle technology.
The new Horiba Institute for Mobility and Connectivity2 (HIMaC2) was developed through a $9 million donation to UCI in 2018 from Japanese analytical and measurement system company Horiba Ltd., whose U.S. headquarters are located in Irvine. The new research facility resides in the university’s engineering building, officials said.
“HIMaC2 represents a collection of state-of-the-art research laboratories for conducting crucially important and highly innovative research in the future of transportation, energy and their interconnections,” UCI Vice Chancellor for Research Pramod Khargonekar said in a statement. “It puts UCI in the forefront of this emerging field leading to breakthrough discoveries, inventions and their translation for benefits to society.”
Researchers for the new facility, who began their work last year, recently secured a partnership with the California Air Resources Board to accelerate the go-to-market journey for zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Last August, HIMaC2 researchers received a $6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for the Public Road Network Platform project to develop connected and autonomous vehicle technologies, according to officials.
