DRIVN Debuts as a New Hub for Transportation Innovation

When people imagine the future of mobility, they often picture the next generation of vehicles and the impact those innovations will have on everyday life. But the future of transportation extends far beyond the automotive sector. From highways to waterways, transformative technologies depend on the engineers, researchers, and industry leaders working together to redefine how the world moves.  

The inaugural ASME DRIVN conference, which occurred in September 2026, provided a space for experts from industry, academia, and government to discuss solutions for some of the most pressing challenges of worldwide transportation. 
 

“[ASME] DRIVN brings together research and development from automakers, national laboratories, and universities in one place. Those perspectives are often where the next wave of innovation begins,” said Brian Schneidewind, vice president of powertrain design at Toyota North America. His presentation on Toyota’s sixth generation plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) technology highlighted one of the industry’s major areas of focus: advancing powertrains as companies diversify beyond internal combustion engines. 

 

The race to define the future of transportation is being shaped as much by shifting markets, regulations, and customer demands as it is by technological breakthroughs. Success will belong not to a single winning technology, but to engineers who can adapt quickly, learn continuously, collaborate across disciplines, and design systems resilient enough to navigate an uncertain future. That mindset emerged as a recurring theme throughout ASME DRIVN, echoed by keynote speaker Mike Anderson, vice president of global battery and propulsion technology at GM. “Academia operates on a certain timescale... corporations are operating on different timescales and structures, and to bring them together is super powerful,” he said. 

 

ASME DRIVN emerged from the society’s Transportation Systems Division, combining the strengths of the Rail Transportation Division and Internal Combustion Engine Division. The conference builds on the legacy of the ICE Forward Symposium and Joint Rail Conference, bringing together their long-standing expertise in transportation engineering and innovation. “I found that really exciting, actually, that there was much more overlap than I had anticipated,” said Sarah Dennis-Bauer, assistant professor in the University of Florida Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering and director of the I‑STREET lab, an ASME DRIVN exhibitor. 
 

By bringing together keynote speakers, technical experts, and emerging researchers, ASME DRIVN showcased both the technologies and the collaborative spirit shaping the future of transportation. The event demonstrated that the next breakthroughs in mobility will be driven not by a single innovation, but by the connections forged across disciplines and sectors.  

 

“As an industry, we’re working toward extremely challenging goals around emissions, fuel economy, affordability, and performance. Conferences like [ASME] DRIVN create opportunities to share ideas, challenge assumptions, and learn from one another,” said Schneidewind. 

 

Share your research. Spark new collaborations. Submit an abstract for ASME DRIVN 2027.