N.C. A&T Transportation Centers Host Successful Two-Day Symposium

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (April 22, 2024) – The Center for Advanced Transportation Mobility (CATM) and the Center for Regional & Rural Connected Communities (CR2C2) at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University hosted a two-day Joint University Transportation Center (UTC) Symposium April 17-18, marking the final year of funded activities for CATM and the first annual event since CR2C2’s launching.

The event is the pinnacle of N.C. A&T’s 35-year involvement with the UTC program as the university is one of the first of only two historically Black college and universities to lead both a Tier 1 and regional UTC since the program’s inception in 1988.

“It is inspiring to see that N.C. A&T researchers are on the front line of transportation research and are leading these two major research efforts under the University Transportation Center program,” said Tonya Smith-Jackson, Ph.D., A&T’s provost and executive vice chancellor for Academic Affairs.

This event included researchers from A&T and several consortium institutions, namely: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – Daytona Beach for CATM; Clemson University, Florida Atlantic University, University of Alabama, University of Georgia, University of Kentucky and University of Tennessee-Knoxville for CR2C2.

Attendees presented their latest research and developments in various transportation research initiatives. In addition, distinguished industry and government representatives attended the event.

“We are delighted to host transportation researchers and practitioners from across the Southeast to visit N.C. A&T and partner with our researchers in these cross-disciplinary research endeavors,” said Lisa A. Owens-Jackson, Ph.D., interim dean of the Willie A. Deese College of Business and Economics.

“This was an opportunity for researchers at N.C. A&T and collaborating partners to showcase the cutting edge research on advanced transportation technology and their impacts on rural and underserved communities and vulnerable road users,” said Stephanie Luster-Teasley Pass, Ph.D., interim dean of the College of Engineering.

Randa Radwan, Ph.D., senior advisor for Safety & Mobility at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R), provided a plenary talk on “Leveraging Technology for Equitable and Safe Mobility.” In addition, the program included 34 oral presentations, 33 poster presentations, four panel discussions, and a demonstration and deployment forum.

“We were honored to host this event as UTC leads. It provided us with the opportunity to disseminate the activities and achievements within both of our consortiums and facilitate engagement and new partnerships with members of the transportation community as a whole,” said Maranda McBride, Ph.D., CATM’s director and CR2C2’s co-director.

The program also included a tour to the transportation research facilities at A&T including a state-of-the-practice rural test track for autonomous vehicles, driving simulation, and other laboratories and experimental setup for testing and evaluating transportation technologies.

Attendees also had an opportunity to ride in one of the automated shuttles at Gateway Research Park’s north campus.

“The event was a success, demonstrating the depth and breadth of transportation research and technology transfer at the CATM and CR2C2 Centers, led by N.C. A&T,” said Ali Karimoddini, Ph.D., director of CR2C2 Regional UTC.