Toyota

‘Walk this Way’ Exhibit Tells Stories Through Nearly 200 Years of Women’s Shoes

by | Feb 8, 2024
Opening this Friday, the exhibition at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum offers a pathway to stories centered around "women's labor activism, the fight for suffrage and equal rights, the sexual revolution, and more."
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Next Chapter: University of North Texas President Neal Smatresk Announces Plans to Step Down
by | Feb 6, 2024
Neal Smatresk's decade at UNT sparked big changes and growth, boosting its standing in academics and research. From "record-breaking enrollment" to "making UNT the highest-ranked Tier One institution in the North Texas region," his tenure marks transformation across multiple fronts.
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How Dallas’ o9 Solutions Built a Multi-Billion-Dollar Digital Brain
by | Nov 16, 2023
The nearly quadruple unicorn started with a prescient vision, hit the market at just the right time, and could gallop into the elite ranks of decacorns. But for o9, it's all about the clients. With giants like Walmart, Google, and Samsung, o9 is laser-focused on helping them make better decisions, faster, with its Digital Brain. As o9 Solutions CEO Chakri Gottemukkala says, the $3.7 billion AI-powered enterprise decision platform has hit its stride. Now his sights are set on ambitious 10x growth.
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‘Fablets’ and More: How SMU Snagged Lead Agency Role in Federal Texoma Semiconductor Tech Hub
On Monday, the Biden administration unveiled 31 U.S. Tech Hubs in the U.S., including the SMU-led Texoma Semiconductor Hub. Here's a deep dive into how Dallas landed its second federal tech hub in two months, who's involved, and what it could mean for the region.
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Toyota, NEEF Launch $150K Transformation of West Dallas’ Fish Trap Lake Park

by | Sep 25, 2023
The three-year project will focus on site improvements at the park, along with increasing access to environmental education for local youth. An event held at the park Saturday marked the 30th annual National Public Lands Day—giving local community members a chance to volunteer and to let their voices be heard on the park's future.
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Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum Partners with DFW School Districts on Classroom Programming
by | Aug 18, 2023
The "Upstander Partnerships" with Dallas ISD and Coppell ISD allow the districts to integrate the museum's history-informed civics and citizenship education via a "consistent and engaging" cross-curricular learning plan for grades K-12. The goal: teaching students to be upstanders, not bystanders, when bullying or discrimination occurs.
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From Coachella to Toyota: How Fort Worth’s Social Factor Is Rocking ‘Human Connection’
In the last 18 months, Social Factor has doubled its revenue and grown to 100-plus employees by helping brands turn "digital chaos to human connection."

This year, the team conquered Coachella for a second time, managing live chat for the official YouTube streams of the festival. Here's how it "stands ready to conduct the digital mosh pits" to come.
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Toyota ‘Empact’ Vision Addresses Sustainability, EV Charging Equity in Underserved Communities
by | Apr 19, 2023
The Empact program seeks to address charging access, affordability, and carbon emission reduction. Plano-based Toyota North America said that Empact is based on the combination of 'environmental impact' and 'empowering action,' representing the efforts Toyota is making to design a more equitable and inclusive deployment strategy.
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Let’s Talk: Toyota, Google Cloud Expand Next-Gen In-Car Voice AI Systems

by | Oct 11, 2022
Plano-based Toyota North America is expanding its partnership with Google Cloud to enhance AI-based speech services in Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Audio control is now just a voice command away, processed by in-vehicle voice AI. And a future Speech On-Device offering could offer a range of natural speech functions without even using the cloud—eliminating "dead zones" and tunnel dropouts.
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Plano-Based Toyota Partners with the DOE on a $6.5M Megawatt-Scale Fuel Cell Project
by | Aug 24, 2022
Fuel cells for cars? Think bigger—because Toyota sure is. After developing hydrogen fuel cell technology for over 25 years, mostly aimed at carbon-zero vehicles, the company is scaling up the tech for uses far beyond cars. Now it's working with the U.S. government to build a system that can add energy to the grid, power things like data centers, and more.
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The Last Word: Toyota’s Trey Spyropoulos on the SWARM Connected Mobility Hackathon
Over 400 Toyota software and hardware engineers from around the world gathered at the company's Plano campus last month for the SWARM Connected Mobility Hackathon—a 36-hour companywide “concept-to-creation” challenge. And seven UT Dallas students were along for the ride.
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Local Tech Founders Duke it Out at Digital Fight Club, Capping Off Dallas Startup Week
by | Aug 12, 2022
Ten local founders and innovators sparred in gloves-off debates, "fighting" to win each round.

The fight card included challenges like: Should brands be transparent? Should the government be involved in building the metaverse? And is ESG important? Here are the knockout rounds.
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Sherman Picked for New $5B Silicon Wafer Plant, Bringing 1,500 New Jobs to North Texas

by | Jun 27, 2022
Beating out potential sites in Ohio and South Korea, the city of Sherman was selected today by GlobiTech for a new $5 billion, 3.2 million-square-foot silicon wafer facility. The plant could eventually produce more than 1 million silicon wafers monthly when production begins by 2025. It's Sherman's second big manufacturing win in a month. Just weeks ago, Texas Instruments broke ground in the city on new semiconductor wafer fabrication plants with a potential $30 billion investment.
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Toyota industry veterans Bob Carter, Mike Owens, Tracy Doi, and Zack Hicks will retire this summer.
Toyota Makes Multiple Leadership, Structural Changes to Further Its Mobility Transformation as Four Execs Retire
by | Jun 9, 2022
Four industry stalwarts will retire this summer at Plano-based Toyota North America, leaving a legacy of firsts and innovations. In the wake, the company announced structural changes, new roles, and leadership moves to backfill the positions.

Here’s a rundown of the retiring executives—and who will take up their mantles.
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EdTech Steps Up: AT&T Launches The Achievery; Istation Intros Educator Hub; and Toyota Offers STEM Tours of Its Plants
by | Mar 28, 2022
Dallas-based AT&T just launched The Achievery, a free digital learning platform using clips from movies like "Wonder Woman" and "Aquaman" to help teach reading, writing, and language skills—and make virtual learning more engaging. Along with a new educator hub from Dallas-based Istation and STEM education initiatives from Plano-based Toyota, it shows how edtech innovation is streaming out of North Texas.
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Toyota Launches Its First Branded Auto Insurance Offering in Five States
by | Dec 9, 2021
Toyota Insurance Management Solutions, which parked its new headquarters in Plano earlier this year, now offers customers customizable coverage via Toyota Auto Insurance. Flexible options are available for rideshare drivers or pet passengers.
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