The University of Chicago (UChicago) has entered a multi-year research collaboration with Toyota to develop quantum technologies for future mobility, sustainable transport, and secure vehicle systems.
The partnership will commence with five joint research schemes backed by up to $1m in annual funding from Toyota.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The work involves UChicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and Toyota’s industrial engineering operations, focusing on potential long-term applications of quantum mechanics within automotive technologies.
David Awschalom, director of the Chicago Quantum Institute and the Liew Family Professor of Molecular Engineering at UChicago PME, is the lead researcher on the initiative.
He said: “By pairing academic discovery with industrial insights, we can accelerate the timeline for bringing quantum technologies out of the lab and into real-world transportation systems. This collaboration with Toyota offers extraordinary opportunities to push the boundaries of research in science and engineering.”
Research will span communication, sensing, materials discovery, electronic properties, and theoretical modelling and prediction.
Initial work is set to include quantum sensors intended to improve environmental vehicle detection, secure communications connecting vehicles, roadside infrastructure, and regional control centres, and quantum simulation for materials utilised in sensors, transceivers, data links, and energy storage systems.
During this opening stage, Toyota will also fund up to eight UChicago postgraduate students working across theoretical and experimental laboratories.
Governance and project coordination will be supervised by a joint steering committee featuring representatives from UChicago and the Toyota Research Institute of North America.
Toyota advanced research and technical resources group vice president Jeff Makarewicz said: “Through the UChicago, Toyota gains access to fundamental discoveries, advanced talent and new computational approaches to solve complex engineering challenges. In turn, Toyota offers UChicago the opportunity to translate cutting-edge research into tangible societal impact.”
Earlier in July, Toyota Motor Europe, BMW Group, Bosch, and Repsol began a six-month pilot in Spain to evaluate whether standard petrol vehicles can run entirely on 100% renewable petrol or gasoline.
That programme uses a fleet of about twenty vehicles, including BMW fleet vehicles alongside Toyota and Lexus passenger cars provided by Toyota España, all powered by Repsol’s Nexa 95 renewable gasoline.
In September, Toyota and Swedish truckmaker Scania formed a partnership to test hydrogen fuel cell technology in heavy-duty transport.
