Shift Magazine - May 2021 - 21

The University of Michigan's M-Air
drone testing lab is 10,000 square
feet and four stories tall.

HIGH
AMBITION

Michigan is taking its
manufacturing, automotive
expertise to new heights

G

ALEXA ST. JOHN

iven that the heart of the auto
industry lies in Michigan, it's no
surprise that the state wants to
be considered a springboard of
another form of transportation: air mobility.
Michigan is working to be a launchpad
for aerospace and aerial development,
bolstered by its strong manufacturing core
and robust automotive supply chain.
The state has invested in air mobility
technologies over the past several years.
Consulting firm PwC named Michigan the
eighth-most friendly place for aerospace
manufacturing attractiveness last year.
Add to that, Michigan has been drawing
more software engineering talent that
once flew - no pun intended - to Silicon
Valley.
But there's still progress to be made, said
Trevor Pawl, who leads the state's Office
of Future Mobility and Electrification.

CLEAR ADVANTAGE

" There are a lot of different assets that
we have that we just need to begin to
stitch together and communicate more
frequently, " Pawl told Automotive News.
" To continue to be a part of the conversation and allow the technology to
advance, it's important that states like
Michigan and other states in the Midwest
find their way into this room. "

Michigan can leverage its clear advantage in land-based transportation and
apply it to air-based technologies, Pawl
said.
" The near-future approach that we're
taking as it relates to aerial mobility is looking at various synergies between what the
[automakers] are doing with autonomous,
connected, shared and electric and what
is possible in the air with
those, " Pawl said.
The state is home
to multiple ground and
aerial test sites and
training programs, including the University
of Michigan's drone
Pawl: " Stitch
testing lab M-Air, and together " assets
the Michigan Unmanned
Aerial Systems Consortium in Alpena.
Another part of Michigan's push to
become a leader is fostering startups, said
Lisa Peterson, vice president of marketing
at Airspace Link, a Detroit-based company
helping governments create guardrails
and regulations for drone flights.
" Obviously the future of mobility is very
important to the state, and this is just a
natural extension, or an addition to, the
future of mobility, " she said. " This is the
next dimension. "
Gavin Brown, executive director of
the Michigan Aerospace Manufacturers
Association, said much of the role

Michigan can play in advancing all forms
of mobility, including air, is through
space-enabled 5G.

5G TECHNOLOGY

" Part of what our mission is, is to make
Michigan a space state, " Brown said of
his association. " Look at who is going
to be the main user of low orbit space
technology for 5G. The main user is
going to be the automotive industry for
autonomous technology to be deployed
anywhere. Whoever gets this gets to
be the leader both domestically and
internationally.
" By enabling autonomous technology to
be present here - as
opposed to being either
Silicon Valley, Texas,
or on the East Coast, "
Brown added, " we
Brown: Make it
then become a state
" a space state "
that will lead not only
the ground vehicle and autonomous, EV
marketplace, but also the marketplace
of communications for 5G autonomous
technology. "
Ultimately, Brown said Michigan is positioned well to become the leader in this
space. But only if it continues to invest in
advanced technology and attract talent.
" We don't have to find an incumbent
source, " Brown said. " We're not displacing anyone right now because there isn't
an incumbent source. We're saying, let's
be leaders in retaining that talent, bringing
that focus of what's needed technologically, to the state. " n
may 2021 * shift

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5/14/21 3:03 PM
Shift Magazine - May 2021

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