Ride-hailing companies such as Lyft and Uber are facing hurdles as passengers are more reluctant to share air during the coronavirus pandemic. However, Lyft co-founder and President John Zimmer says the outlook for ride-hailing remains healthy during the next three to five years.

Travis Hoium recommends that investors purchase shares of GM, the parent company of Cruise, or Google, the parent company of Waymo, to own a piece of the autonomous vehicle action. "Over the next decade, this could be an enormous opportunity, and Waymo and Cruise are clearly a step ahead of the competition," he writes.

Lightweight materials, new coatings and other solutions are needed to support connected, autonomous, shared and electric vehicles, creating both opportunities and challenges for chemical companies. For example, 3M has developed metal oxide ceramic-based road beads that will improve visibility, while Covestro is focused on lightweight interior components.

Smart city technology specialist Monotch and Dutch roadside technology firm Dynniq have partnered to improve the exchange of intelligent transformation system data. Monotch and Dynniq previously joined forces on several European projects to bolster the performance of connected vehicles and traffic control equipment.

Autonomous vehicles are making their biggest advances not on the road but on construction sites and farms with heavy vehicles that leverage artificial intelligence. One example is the SafeAI platform, which will begin operating an autonomous Caterpillar 725 articulated dump truck next month, demonstrating load-haul-dump cycles on a site in South San Francisco, Calif.

Startup The Flying Ship Company is at work on a ground effect high speed drone for cargo transport over water. The concept for ground effect ships, called ekranoplans, was pioneered in Russia.

Electric vehicle startup Arcimoto is partnering with DHL as it plans mass production of its Fun Utility Vehicle, a three-wheeled EV. DHL will provide home delivery of the vehicles, which are street-legal and can go up to 75 mph.

Oregon State University's Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory now boasts a waterjet cutting machine to help students bridge the gap between computer work and the real world. Paired with 3D modeling software, the waterjet and other machines in the lab allow students to "realize that they can dream something up and have a prototype in the hand in an hour," said lab manager Brian Jensen.

Together, more is possible. That's why Penske Transportation Solutions has partnered with companies like Daimler and TuSimple to change the trajectory of commercial trucking. On the latest episode of SAE Tomorrow Today, we connected with Bill Combs, Vice President of Connected Vehicle Strategy and Experimentation at Penske Transportation Solutions, to discuss the future of the commercial vehicle industry and how these partnerships enable Penske to better serve, maintain and scale its fleet.

Help us recognize an outstanding Engineering Educator by nominating them for the Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award. Nominations are due by Nov. 1 to honor those younger educators who are successfully preparing engineers for meet the mobility challenges that face society.