Carnegie Mellon University President Subra Suresh joined Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto Wednesday for the first official ride in an Uber self-driving car, as the company rolled out its high-tech innovation in the home of autonomous vehicles. The commercial application of autonomous driving has drawn national attention in recent days, highlighting the formative role Carnegie Mellon research has played in field that could ultimately save thousands of lives a year.

“Universities like Carnegie Mellon have the power to change the world. This demonstration is a very good example of that,” Suresh said. “This is why innovation is so closely connected to research universities. For several decades, CMU has pioneered the technology behind autonomous vehicles.”