• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Jobs
  • Pressroom
  • MyTTI
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • SlideShare
  • RSS

Texas A&M Transportation Institute

Saving Lives, Time and Resources.

  • About TTI
    • Overview
    • Academic Partners
    • Advisory Council
    • Hall of Honor
    • History
    • Sponsors
    • TTI Executive Team
    • Participate in Research
  • Focus Areas
    • Connected Transportation
    • Economics
    • Environment
    • Freight
    • Human Interaction
    • Infrastructure
    • Mobility
    • Planning and Operations
    • Policy
    • Safety
    • Security
    • Workforce Development
  • Facilities
    • Connected Transportation
    • Infrastructure
    • Safety
    • Environment
    • Traffic Operations
    • Maps
  • Home
  • Centers
    • National
    • State
    • Research Internships
  • People
    • People Search
    • Directory
    • Featured Researchers
    • TTI Staff External Awards and Committees
  • Publications
    • Catalog Search
    • Texas Transportation Researcher
You are here: Home / News / TTI Freight Shuttle, New Guardrail Highlighted at Patent Luncheon

TTI Freight Shuttle, New Guardrail Highlighted at Patent Luncheon

June 27, 2011

Eight employees of the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) were recognized at the Patent and Innovation Awards Luncheon recently, which was held at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center at the George Bush Presidential Library.

Steve Roop, Leslie Olson and Curtis Morgan were honored for their patent, described simply as a freight transportation system and method. The Freight Shuttle is a revolutionary cargo-movement concept consisting of a series of specially designed transport vehicles that carry freight containers and truck trailers. The containers travel on an elevated guideway, propelled by electric linear induction motors.

Patent number 7,656,203 was issued to the trio and former TTI employee Craig Roco in February of last year.

Akram Abu-Odeh, Dean Alberson, Roger Bligh, Lance Bullard and Gene Buth were issued patent number 7,694,941 in April. It’s described as a guardrail safety system for dissipating energy to decelerate the impacting vehicle.

“This system is the first guardrail terminal to meet the new national standard, ‘Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware,’ also known as MASH,” Bullard explains. “It is a tension terminal that has the potential to withstand a second impact, which is different than current guardrail systems.” TTI is currently in discussion with Trinity Industries regarding a licensing agreement, which is the first step before production.

The Texas A&M University System Office of Technology Commercialization handed out a total of 24 Patent Awards to 40 A&M System employees this year.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: News Tagged With: freight shuttle, guardrail

  • The State of Texas
  • Texas Homeland Security
  • Texas Veterans Portal
  • State Expenditure Database
  • Statewide Search
  • State Auditor’s Office Hotline
  • TAMUS Risk, Fraud & Misconduct Hotline
  • Site Policies
  • Open Records Policy
  • Statutorily Required Reports
  • TTI Rules
  • Veterans
  • Equal Opportunity
  • Jobs
Member of the Texas A&M University System

© 2021 Copyright Statement / Legal Notices and Policies

Comments, suggestions, or queries? Contact us!

Texas A&M Transportation Institute · 3135 TAMU · College Station, Texas 77843-3135

(979) 317-2000

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.