Toyota announced on Tuesday that it has established the Toyota Research Institute of North America (TRI-NA). Over the next four years, the Japanese will invest $100 million into the new operation. TRI-NA will be tasked with the continuing development of research on energy and environment, safety, and mobility infrastructure.
Although Toyota will not be building a new facility for the venture, it will be utilizing its existing facility space at the Toyota Technical Center Ann Arbor campus.
The TRI-NA will be headed by Dr. Noboru Kikuchi, who is the Roger L. McCarthy Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan and also a Director of Toyota Central Research & Development Laboratories, Inc. in Japan.
The program will initially employ 35 researchers and administration staff, but that number will be ramped up to 65 by 2010 — adding to Toyota’s North American workforce of 43,000 employees.
