Transportation and telematics veteran tapped to lead maturing start-up’s growth strategy, spearhead program innovation and economic development initiatives.
YPSILANTI TWP., MI, Feb. 19, 2019 — The American Center for Mobility (ACM) today announced that Michael Noblett has been selected as president and chief executive officer (CEO) following a national executive search. Interim CEO Kirk Steudle, who was appointed by the board of directors in mid-2018, will transition oversight of the company to Noblett effective February 25, 2019. Noblett will oversee the strategic direction of the award-winning proving grounds and work with the board of directors to accelerate the Center’s development.
As Noblett manages the strategy and overall direction for ACM, day-to-day operational tasks have been assigned to Mark Chaput, who was recently promoted to chief operating officer from vice president of operations and construction. Rounding out ACM’s executive leadership team moving forward is Jeff Rupp, who 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,” said Doug Rothwell, president and CEO, 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.”
Since opening, additional infrastructure has been added to the more than 500-acre site, including two state-of-the-art garages housing 13 vehicle and commercial truck bays, two new testing environments and a corridor designed to replicate bicycle and pedestrian traffic. In September 2018, ACM was awarded a U.S. Department of Energy grant to examine fuel-efficient platooning in mixed traffic highway environments, communication systems reliability in adverse weather scenarios and validate simulation models. The proposed scope of the study has not been attempted before; if completed successfully, it will be the first of its kind in the nation. ACM is also collaborating with its 23-member Academic Consortium to convene additional technical training programs, as well as coordinating efforts to develop a new research study on workforce development trends.
According to Paul Krutko, Ann Arbor SPARK president and CEO, “ACM is a critical asset in our economic development strategy: It anchors the eastern part of our county, it’s proof positive that this region is the mobility capital of the world, and it’s a place where the next generation of
“The interest from industry and demand for greater programing at ACM hasn’t slowed since the doors opened in December 2017,” said Kirk Steudle, interim CEO, ACM. “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.”
Noblett joins the ACM team from Intel, where he served as the global segment lead of automotive industry sales. He is internationally recognized as an expert in automotive electronics and wireless communications and is a leader in the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) industry having helped pioneer multinational activities to advance connected vehicle technologies, advanced safety transportation systems and location-based service delivery.
About ACM
The American Center for Mobility is a non-profit testing, education and product
development facility for future mobility, designed to enable safe validation
and self-certification of connected and automated vehicle technology and future
mobility, and to accelerate the development of voluntary standards. ACM is part
of PlanetM, a collaborative that represents Michigan’s unique and vast
ecosystem, connecting resources and opportunities for its consortium of
members. To learn more about ACM, visit www.acmwillowrun.org.
