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Final Race of MOL-sponsored 'Autonomous RACECAR Grand Prix' Held at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

September 10, 2024

TOKYO-Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President & CEO: Takeshi Hashimoto) today announced that it sponsored the Beaver Works Summer Institute (BWSI) (Note 1), a STEM education program for high school students, held on August 3 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.). On the same day, one of the BWSI's main events, the final race of the Autonomous RACECAR Grand Prix (Note 2) (the World Competition) was held at MIT. Prior to the World Championships, ICHINOYA Inc. (President: Tomonori Fukuda, Head Office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo) held the "GLOBAL TECH" event for Japanese competitors (the Japan Competition) in June. MOL sponsored MIT educational programs including the World and Japan competitions through ICHINOYA.

Scenes from the day of the "Autonomous RACECAR Grand Prix"
With students taking part in "GLOBAL TECH" (Japan Competition)

In addition to the Japanese national team that won the Japan Competition, teams selected from all six countries took part in the World Competition, with students from all over the world engaged in friendly competition to achieve the same goal.

Japan national team with ICHINOYA staff

In addition, on July 30, just before the World Competition, MOL Chief Technology Officer Koichi Kawanaka gave a presentation at the MITBWSI Seminar Series. Kawanaka lectured to about 400 students, including 150 participants in person and another 240 online, on MOL's initiatives to protect the environment, including the Wind Challenger (hard sail wind assisted ship propulsion system) technology, based on more than 140 years of accumulated maritime shipping knowledge.

Lecture during the MITBWSI seminar series

MOL will continue to support students in Japan and abroad who will lead the future in various ways.

(Note 1) A STEM education program for high school students sponsored by MIT Beaver Works (MITBW). Held each summer, students learn the latest technologies and engineering skills being developed and applied in the real world through project-based workshops.

(Note 2) A car race in which MIT's driverless cars are driven with their own programming code and compete for positions. The course has many obstacles and shortcuts, and effectively executing the control algorithm in consideration of these obstacles and shortcuts is critical to success.