The UIUC transportation group welcomed Peter H. Appel to campus and ATREL on August 19-20. Appel was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) in spring 2009.
Since joining RITA, Appel has worked with Secretary Ray LaHood to advance key U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) initiatives by leveraging effective research and cross-modal coordination.
On Thursday afternoon, Appel led a discussion on “America’s Transportation Research Agenda: Putting Workforce Development on Track.” He explained how RITA is working to implement a comprehensive workforce development strategy to ensure that our nation has the engineers, designers and planners needed meet the demands of the 21st Century transportation system.
On Friday morning, Administrator Appel visited ATREL to tour the facility and meet with local media as well as faculty and transportation students who demonstrated their research. He got a first-hand look at the types of research and state-of-the-art facilities needed to modernize and revitalize transportation in this country.
ATREL is one of the top facilities of its kind in the world and home to one of the largest moveable full-scale pavement testing facility in the country.
Mr. Appel has over 20 years of experience in transportation, and has supported organizations in the railroad, trucking, airline, and ocean shipping industries with growth strategy, supply chain improvement, post-merger integration, public-private partnerships, and other key business and policy issues. Previously, he served as the Special Assistant to the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, and as Assistant Director for Pricing and Yield Management at Amtrak. Mr. Appel earned his bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University in Economics and Computer Science with Highest Honors, and received his Master of Science in Transportation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Several local media covered this event: