The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) has chosen Dr. Christopher Poe, P.E., senior research engineer and assistant agency director, as its Connected and Automated (CV/AV) Transportation Strategy Lead. Poe comes to this new position with more than 30 years of experience in transportation system operations and intelligent transportation systems (ITS) research and in leading and executing large, high-visibility research initiatives.
A recognized leader in developing innovative ITS solutions for decades, TTI has created some of the most advanced information management applications currently deployed on the U.S. highway system. In the CV/AV arena, some of TTI’s recent project awards include a U.S. Department of Transportation-sponsored I-35 Connected Work Zone project; a multi-partner truck platooning project sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT); and development of a CV/AV Transit, Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Test Bed and a wrong-way driving CV testbed, both also sponsored by TxDOT. Through its Transportation Policy Research Center, the Institute is leading the nation in researching policy implications in implementing connected transportation technologies, including through a National Cooperative Highway Research Program project studying CV/AV policy and planning actions for state and local governments.
“Currently, the Institute is involved in some 40 CV/AV projects at the local, state and national levels,” said Dr. Dennis L. Christiansen, P.E., agency director “Appointing a leader to help achieve our strategic direction in CV/AV research is a natural next step. This new position signals that TTI is taking an enhanced leadership role in researching and implementing CV/AV technologies and best practices to improve the safety, mobility and infrastructure of our nation’s transportation system.”
Poe’s role is to focus on collaboration and strategic direction for CV/AV research at TTI and to lead the planning and implementation efforts for the Institute’s research and test beds in all areas of connected transportation. He will organize the CV/AV Strategy Team across multiple divisions within TTI and coordinate with Texas A&M University’s CV/AV efforts. Close coordination between TTI and the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M is essential to advancing research in this area.
“The deployment of connected and automated vehicle technologies is the most important innovation in transportation since the development of the Interstate Highway System,” said Poe. “I’m honored that TTI’s leadership has chosen me to coordinate the Institute’s many initiatives in this evolving area.”
Poe has served as the vice chair of the Connected Vehicle Task Force for the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) and secretary of the Transportation Research Board’s Vehicle-Highway Automation Committee. He earned a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University and B.S. and M.Eng. degrees in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University. Poe has received numerous honors and awards throughout his career. Most recently, the I-35 Central Texas Project Team he supports for the Texas Department of Transportation was honored with an award from the Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
For More Information
- View: TTI’s Capabilities in Connected Transportation
- Contact: Rick Davenport, Public Affairs