MURI Program: Developing a National Index for Electrified and Autonomous Mobility
DUE is home to IEL and the CRL which is administering the Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Institute (MURI) both in the academic year and the summer, which creates and supports multidisciplinary research teams consisting of undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, senior staff and faculty. The primary purpose of these teams is to provide undergraduates a unique opportunity to gain research skills by working with mentors on real world problems.
Overview of department:
In 2021, the US Economic Development Administration helped establish and fund The Initiative for Electrified and Autonomous Mobility (IEAM), which is a university center based in the Purdue School of Engineering Technology located here on the IUPUI campus. In partnership with the Transportation and Autonomous Systems Institute (TASI) and the Kelley School of Business’ Center for Excellence in Manufacturing (CEM), IEAM focuses on research, teaching, and corporate engagement related to electrified and autonomous transportation.
Project summary:
The project team will ideally consist of Two (2) Engineering Technology Undergraduates and Two (2) Kelley Business School Undergraduates. The goal of this research project is to help the Purdue School of Engineering & Technology and Kelley Business School faculty develop a valid, accurate, and repeatable nationwide index for measuring industry’s adoption and implementation of electrified and autonomous mobility technologies. After this project is completed, our newly developed “Electrified and Autonomous Index” (EAI) will be featured on IEAM’s website, used in reports, as well as shared with government policy makers and the media.
Specific tasks that the MURI student will complete:
- Phase 1: The students will identify and study a host of well-known indices such as the Consumer Price Index, Purchasing Managers Index, and the Consumer Confidence Index in order to both understand how each index is calculated as well as the periodic data collection requirements for updating the score. The final deliverable is a presentation to faculty on these well-known indices.
- Phase 2: The students will conduct research (Internet and IUPUI Library databases) related to the manufacturers, transportation providers, and customers involved in electrified and autonomous mobility in order to understand the technologies and markets that an index will model and track.
- Phase 3: Working with faculty, the students will create, test, and refine our eventual EAI formula.
Specific qualifications (knowledge, skills, class standing, etc) we desire the MURI candidate to have:
- Familiarity with researching online databases in IUPUI's library as well as other information sources on the Internet.
- Knowledge / skill creating Excel spreadsheets.
- Undergraduates with Sophomore or higher status are welcome to apply for one of these positions.
Learning objectives:
By the end of this position assignment, the student will meet the following learning objectives
In the course of their project work, students will not only learn about state-of-art electrified and autonomous technologies but also the types of businesses that are developing and implementing them.