Automotive News Europe - August 2019 - S6

ADDING EQUITY TO THE EXCITEMENT

tephen Zoepf remembers getting an odd reaction from fellow
students at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology when,
after receiving his undergraduate degree
in 2001, he announced plans to work for
a major automaker.
"I got kind of the RCA dog look in
response. The kind of ... 'Really? You're
going to go into the automotive industry?' " recalled Zoepf, now executive director of the Center for Automotive Research
at Stanford University in California. "It's
because at the time, transportation was
considered a safe but not very exciting
place to work."
But in today's world of new mobility?
"Exactly the opposite is true. This is
an exciting but potentially not very safe
place to be working," Zoepf said.
"What that means is that lots of students are being drawn into this space.
They want to impact the future of transportation. They want to work for Waymo
or one of the other companies that's out
here at the ragged edge of research.
And what we felt is that students were
graduating Stanford with the technical

BY LESLIE J. ALLEN
Voyage's self-driving vehicles
serve retirement communities.

knowledge that they need to contribute
in that space, but they didn't necessarily
have that sense of responsibility."
To address that shortcoming, Stanford
is offering a course called Ethics and
Equity in Transportation Systems.
"In this course we attempted to instill
in students in just 10 weeks a sense of
the burden they carry when they work in
the transportation space."
Zoepf says the industry needs to focus
more on equitable access to new mobility, including autonomous cars.
"In order to have a truly sustainable
transportation system, you need to be

HOW TO PARTNER WITH SHIFT

SHIFT

Vol. 2, Issue 3

REMAINING 2019 ISSUES

Sept. 30, Nov. 25

PRINT COPIES

Automotive News subscribers receive Shift
along with their weekly issue five times
in 2019. Individual copies are available to
nonsubscribers for $4.50. Call 877-812-1584.

shift * july 2019

Interested in sponsoring a Shift event and
issue? Partner with Automotive News to
bring together technology and transportation
leaders who are shaping the future of mobility.
We'll work with you to determine the topic,
select the event location and invite the target
audience. Opportunities for sponsorship
are limited. Contact Karen Rentschler at
krentschler@autonews.com or 313-446-6058.

SHIFT: A PODCAST
ABOUT MOBILITY

Go to where you get your podcasts to hear
insights from top industry influencers.
Or, for information:
autonews.com/shiftpodcast

providing transportation solutions for all
of your population, not just 5 percent or
10 percent of your population," he said.
"One of the principles of design thinking at Stanford is just empathy - developing a profound sense of empathy for
the users of your product."
He points to Voyage as a good example. The company deploys robotaxi fleets
in retirement communities.
"When you look at the areas that we're
focused on, it tends to be places like
Silicon Valley, and I'm looking forward
to the day that we really deliver on that
promise of bringing mobility to all." n

Go to autonews.com/newsletters and sign
up to receive Shift as a digital edition and to
get the Shift Mobility Report newsletter.

DIGITAL EDITION

Access current
and past issues:
autonews.com/shift

HOW TO REACH US

Email comments, questions and letters
to the editor to shift@crain.com, or call
Editor Leslie J. Allen at 313-446-6088.

http://www.autonews.com/newsletters http://www.autonews.com/shift http://www.autonews.com/shiftpodcast

Automotive News Europe - August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Europe - August 2019