News & Views

With support from the U.S. Mission Mexico Public Diplomacy Section, WDI will implement an academic partnership focused on vehicle electrification training, research and innovation to support higher education institutions in Chihuahua, Mexico. Through the partnership, a select group of faculty in engineering disciplines from the state of Chihuahua will acquire or deepen technical skills related to vehicle electrification technology.

The 2023 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Global Case Writing Competition, managed by WDI Publishing, has generated 26 cases from seven countries. Now in its third year, the contest is supported by the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. The partnership will be renewed with a fourth competition in 2024.

Entrepreneurs are business catalysts and education is the spark. With support from the Ford Motor Co. Fund, our Education team developed the “Starting a Business: Your Entrepreneurial Journey” course to turn this energy into action. Representing nine countries, 88 students in this spring’s program learned how to identify a need in the market, pitch a business plan, acquire funding, price a product and find a place for it in the market.

We recently visited Grupo OSME, a privately run-medical clinic in the San Luis Río Colorado in Sonora, Mexico. Our team provided due diligence on OSME’s plan to expand into a hospital through a loan with the North American Development Bank. Learn more about the project in this video feature.

The William Davidson Institute and the Center for Global Health Equity (CGHE) at the University of Michigan hosted the Global Health Commercialization Competition, an effort to commercialize promising technology and innovations for low- and middle-income countries.

This spring, the William Davidson Institute supported 13 partner projects in nine countries involving more than 75 University of Michigan graduate students as part of their MBA degree program.

Medicines Malaria Venture is developing a long-acting injectable medication to protect children at risk of malaria. When the nonprofit needed clear data on what was most important to clinicians, WDI's Healthcare team suggested a well-tested business practice.

WDI has released a new report, developed alongside Chihuahua’s Secretaría de Innovación y Desarrollo Económico, that delves into opportunities in the electric vehicle value chain and the key elements of the emerging global e-mobility ecosystem.

Around the globe, we are witnessing actions from government, industry, academia and other players whose roles are crucial in enabling the transition to e-mobility. Our research is investigating the challenges and opportunities of this global shift in LMICs.

Russia's war in Ukraine has pressed NGOs to the limit. In partnership with the Weiser Center at the University of Michigan, WDI offered the NGO Leadership Workshop in Poland in late 2022. At the time, WDI shifted its curriculum to meet the needs of the many NGOs in the area serving Ukrainian refugees.