ICT partners with Michigan to advance connected and autonomous transportation

2/28/2023 McCall Macomber

Written by McCall Macomber

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the University of Michigan a $15 million grant to enhance and transform our transportation system on February 21.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Illinois Center for Transportation is one of nine organizations partnering with Michigan on the effort, which is led by the Center for Connected and Automated Transportation.

The five-year grant aims to address emerging technologies on autonomous vehicles and connected infrastructure. A key focus during this period is addressing cybersecurity needs for emerging transportation technologies.

ICT will work with various partners to transition the nation to connected and autonomous vehicles, focusing on connectivity between vehicles and transportation infrastructure.

The ICT team will include UIUC professors Imad Al-Qadi,  Yanfeng Ouyang, Jeffery Roesler and Alireza Talebpour as well as ICT research scientist Angeli Jayme.

“It’s an honor to continue our work with the University of Michigan and expand the partnership with other top institutions in the region to help shape the future of our transportation system,” said Al-Qadi, ICT director and UIUC Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering.

The 2023 grant is a renewal of a six-year DOT agreement awarded to Michigan in 2016, in which ICT served as one of six partners.

During that six-year period, the CCAT-led initiative made advances in training autonomous vehicles, moving toward driverless vehicles and developing communication between transportation infrastructure and vehicles.

UIUC professors also led pioneering research on platoons of connected and autonomous freight trucks, drone delivery and innovative traffic guidance to improve safety as well as reduce traffic delays and damage to roads. UIUC professors Al-Qadi, Ouyang, Roesler and Hadi Meidani as well as Arizona State University professor Hasan Ozer led those efforts.


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This story was published February 28, 2023.