The American Center for Mobility, a nonprofit testing, education, and product development facility for future mobility in Ypsilanti Township, has selected Michael Noblett president and CEO following a national executive search.
Kirk Steudle, who was appointed interim CEO by the board of directors in mid-2018, will transition oversight to Noblett effective Feb. 25. Noblett will oversee strategic direction of the nonprofit and work to accelerate the center’s development.
“The interest from industry and demand for greater programing at ACM hasn’t slowed since the doors opened in December 2017,” says Steudle. “As ACM moves into this new phase, I am confident Michael is the right leader to ensure forward movement and growth in the years to come.”
Day-to-day operational tasks have been assigned to Mark Chaput, who recently was promoted to COO from vice president of operations and construction. Jeff Rupp joined the team in May 2018 and serves as chief technical officer as well as chief safety officer.
“The board believes Michael Noblett is the ideal leader for ACM as it transitions from a start-up into a mature organization,” says Doug Rothwell, president and CEO of Business Leaders for Michigan and chair of the ACM board of directors. “Michael, along with Mark Chaput and Jeff Rupp, give us a leadership team that will solidify ACM’s position as a world-class test facility and resource for advanced technology research.”
Additional infrastructure has been added to the 500-acre site since it opened, including two state-of-the-art garages housing 13 vehicles and commercial truck bays, two new testing environments, and a corridor designed to replicate bicycle and pedestrian traffic.
In September 2018, the center was awarded a U.S. Department of Energy grant to examine fuel-efficient platooning in mixed traffic highway environments and communication systems’ reliability in adverse weather scenarios, and to validate simulation models.
The center is also collaborating with its 23-member Academic Consortium to convene additional technical training programs and coordinating efforts to develop a new research study on workforce development trends.
Noblett most recently was global segment lead of automotive industry sales at Intel.
The center is designed to enable safe validation and self-certification of connected and autonomous vehicle technology and future mobility, and to accelerate the development of voluntary standards. It is part of PlanetM, a collaborative representing Michigan’s ecosystem and connecting resources and opportunities for its consortium members.
