New ICT programs bring greater specialization and information dissemination

Three ICT researchers are developing programs to achieve greater focus on key areas of research and to more widely disseminate research findings within academia and industry, as well as to the general public. Following is a brief description of the mission of each program, provided by its associate director.

Transportation Mobility and Resiliency — Yanfeng Ouyang
Transportation resilience is a system’s ability to operate under normal as well as variable and unexpected conditions. Transportation mobility—the efficient movement of people and goods—is critical to a resilient system. The transportation mobility and resiliency program was created to promote research, education, and outreach in the interdisciplinary areas of passenger and freight transportation systems. The program addresses interactions among physical, human, and cyber-information infrastructure systems, all of which are subject to socioeconomic, environmental, and regulatory constraints. The approach integrates fundamental principles and engineering technologies from many scientific domains (e.g., transportation science, network theory, economics, operations research, computer science, telecommunications, behavioral science) to enhance the mobility and resiliency of multimodal transportation systems.

Transportation Geotechnics — Erol Tutumluer
Many transportation facilities are rapidly aging and exposed to the effects of varying traffic loads and changing climates. As a result, providing a strong and stable transportation foundation is critical for today’s sustainable engineering practices. The transportation geotechnics program provides state-of-the-art research and effective, sustainable construction solutions by applying geotechnical and geoenvironmental aspects to the design, construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation of roads, railways, and airfields.

Outreach and Technology Transfer — Jeffery Roesler
The outreach and technology transfer program focuses on more strategically disseminating transportation research findings through traditional reports, papers, live presentations, and webinars to our agency research partners. Additionally, outreach activities will focus on establishing an industrial affiliates program to communicate faculty research findings and to address current challenges facing the transportation industry.