Tag: tech shop

Ford Looks to App Developers and Open-Source Innovation for Futuristic Driving Experience

Ford Motors has been doing everything they can think of to facilitate innovation and a creative spirit in the automotive community. The company has changed their outlook on design and engineering.

Their latest effort to spur creative ideas comes in the form of a new laboratory in Silicon Valley, where collecting data on how people are using their vehicles and what can be done to better accommodate that use, is at the forefront of design.

Ford is on a mission to shed the innovation in a bubble mentality of Detroit, and assume the collectivist spirit that embodies invention more closely tied to Silicon Valley. In other word, they want to go open-source with their creative efforts.

Ford’s CTO Paul Mascarenas comments on the idea:

“We really want the car to get to know you and what you’re doing at any given time and be able to adapt with a connected experience,”

More specifically, Ford is looking for app developers to help them create an environment inside of vehicles that is anticipating and delivering at every turn. So if you are an app developer and you are interested in collaborating with Ford on this type of project, visit http://fordsvl.com/.

Learn a little more about Ford’s collaborative form of innovation with this video:

At the end of May, Ford got the ball rolling an a new Tech Shop in the Detroit area where tech savvy entrepreneurs can take advantage of cutting-edge design and testing equipment to develop and refine technology aimed at automobile innovation.

As part of the open-source spirit they also made some refinements to an existing Patent Incentive Program, which allows collaborators to get paid for their intellectual investments. They have also set aside physical spaces in an area of the city they call Fordland where they help small entrepreneurs get manufacturing efforts off the ground while providing affordable rent and professional consultation.

So, if you want to deliver a vehicle which is adaptive and more attuned to a driver’s experience, you have to embody that mentality with your design efforts, and it sounds like Ford is going above and beyond to do just that. It gives new meaning to the phrase, “there’s an app for that”.

(Lead Image: Ford’s B-MAX 2013 Concept Vehicle)

June 21, 2012
Ford Pilots the Motor City Innovation Exchange Program

Ford is working to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in the business and design communities. It began with the creation of their cutting-edge Tech Shop, which gives Ford’s employees access to high-tech resources and material for design and creation. Next, they made some refinements to their Patent Incentive Program to allow employees to get credit for their intellectual discoveries.

Now Ford is sponsoring the Motor City Innovation Exchange. The exchange is a physical extension of the Detroit-based AutoHarvest Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization set up by automotive executives hoping to facilitate connections between the industry and local entrepreneurs.

William Coughlin, CEO of Ford Global Technologies comments on Tech Shop and the Motor City Innovation Exchange:

“There was a time not so long ago in this business when ideas that were ‘not invented here’ got easily dismissed,”

“The competitive pressures in the auto industry today are greater than ever, with demands for improving quality, safety, technology and of course fuel efficiency, so we are both encouraging and looking for new ideas wherever we can find them.”

“Bringing TechShop to Detroit was the critical first step in the creation of the Innovation Exchange,”

“It will be an open meeting place that will enable inventors to showcase what they create in TechShop and then negotiate, network and even sell their prototyped solutions to players in the automotive industry, from manufacturers and suppliers to research institutions and startups.”

Additionally, TechTown, Wayne State University’s business incubator, will hold regular sessions at the Innovation Exchange in order to educate and advise innovators and creators who take advantage of Tech Shops’s resources. The sessions will cover a variety of relevant topics and be presented by the school’s instructors.

Ford will also be sponsoring something they call the Jump Start Program. Essentially, Ford will be helping small businesses and entrepreneurs get set up on smaller operations which seek to market the manufacture products designed and inspired through Tech Shop and the Motor City Innovation Exchange. More information on how to take advantage of the Ford Land resources are available through thisFordland.com link.

Here’s a quick recap of what Ford is doing o fuel innovation in the community:

* Ford’s intellectual property licensing group to open Motor City Innovation Exchange providing a showroom for innovators to show off their creations to peers and potential customers

* Working with TechShop, the nonprofit AutoHarvest Foundation and Wayne State University’s TechTown, Ford is helping entrepreneurs commercialize their creations

* Ford Land is now offering the Jump Start program to provide more affordable work/hacker space along with support to help spur job-creating businesses

Coughlin again comments:

“Like every industry, the automobile business was built and thrived on innovation,”

“As personal transportation is reinvented in the 21st century, the challenges facing the industry are greater than ever and fresh ideas are essential to success.”

“Ford is pleased to be leading the way through its connections with TechShop, AutoHarvest Foundation and TechTown,”

May 31, 2012
Ford Motors Tech Shop Inspires Innovation

Ford Motor Company has opened a do-it-yourself technology and fabrication shop in Michigan. The idea behind the shop is to give employees a playground for innovation, an area where creative tendencies can find inspiration and lead to breakthroughs in the market. To get their current workforce interested in trying out the facility, they are offering a free three month membership to what is fittingly called, TechShop.

Yes, it isn’t always going to be free, but at just $99/ month, it offers access to some pretty cutting-edge equipment. Many of Ford’s engineers and designers have already taken advantage of the shop after its opening in late December.

Ford safety electronics manager, Steven Schondorf comments on TechShop:

“The process of experimenting at TechShop by taking an idea, visualizing what it should be and translating it to a real object helps me to be more creative in my work on a regular basis.”

Ford is hoping these off the clock experiments will help facilitate a creative spirit and lead to innovations in the workplace. It isn’t just for fun, it’s about supporting and nurturing creativity in the broader community.

James Marleau, expert in door technology and functionality at Ford speaks about TechShop:

“We have a very holistic approach when we look at doors, we look at everything as an entire system that has to work together to give drivers the quality they expect and the results they need.”

“TechShop is very people-friendly, and everyone wants to collaborate,”

“Everyone brings their own piece of knowledge to the table. When I’m there, I might be attacking something from one direction, but someone else will suggest another way, which can give me a new way of looking at a problem.”

John Jaranson works in the research lab at Ford looking for ideas on how to trim the bulk from existing vehicles seating designs and still retain comfort. He says the TechShop has really stimulated his creativity, and was oner of the first to sign up.

John Jaranson comments on TechShop:

“With this kind of design, I don’t know any other way I would have been able to make this without TechShop,”

“I think the creative community in the area is growing, when I come here, there are always people working. You can see small communities in TechShop growing. It’s exactly the kind of thing I want to be a part of.”

We should be seeing some great ideas coming out of this shop in the months to come. It will be exciting to see how fast technology can leave the shop and make it on to the production floor. Of course they will have to address patent rights and logistical things like that, but I think it’s a great idea and a huge step for facilitating innovation.

May 7, 2012