Brett Wood, TMH North America

After a successful inaugural year, Toyota Material Handling North America (TMHNA) has announced the second year of the TMHNA University Research Program, a sponsored research program created to drive the next generation of materials handling industry technology.

The new program is accepting proposals until August 31, 2017.

Through the program, TMHNA is seeking research proposals from full-time professors or researchers at North American universities. The TMHNA University Research Program's mission is to encourage and support professors and researchers who are applying their engineering and technical field knowledge to the materials handling industry.

"We are excited to launch the second year of our TMHNA University Research Program," says Brett Wood, TMHNA president and chief executive officer. "We created this program to foster more innovation for the growth of our industry, and we are thrilled with the progress we have seen from the inaugural program.

"The TMHNA University Research Program provides a unique opportunity for collaboration between collegiate research and TMHNA, which inevitably will benefit the entire industry."

Proposals will be evaluated for their impact on the future of the materials handling industry, as well as the planning and feasibility of the timeline and budget, and professors or researchers with selected proposals will be notified by October 1, 2017, with projects starting in November 2017.

For more information about the TMHNA University Research Program, visit www.UniversityResearchProgram.com.