The German Aerospace Center — Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR) — recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) to encourage international collaboration on transportation research, technology transfer and education.
With locations across Germany, DLR is one of the largest aeronautics and space research centers in the country. DLR research explores fields such as aeronautics, space, energy, transportation, digitalization and security. Within the transportation field, research mainly comes from the Institute of Transport Research, the Institute of Vehicle Concepts, and the Institute of Transportation Systems.
“The MOU provides access to a wide range of international expertise,” notes Katie Turnbull, TTI executive associate director. “We look forward to working with DLR to address critical transportation issues with innovative services and emerging technologies.”
TTI’s liaison within DLR is the Institute of Transportation Research. The main research areas within this DLR institute include road and rail transport, the transport system, and urban mobility for passenger and freight vehicles. TTI and DLR will work together on a variety of research activities, such as:
- facilitating information exchange between like-minded researchers,
- teaming up on abstracts, papers and conference presentations,
- securing funding for and conducting joint research projects,
- developing and teaching courses and professional development, and
- offering opportunities for faculty, researcher and student exchanges (depending on COVID-19 status).
TTI Mobility Division Head Bill Eisele says, “We’re very excited about collaborating with DLR to positively influence mutual transportation challenges. To kick off our partnership, we’re determining interest for a virtual information exchange related to passenger and freight travel impacts due to the ongoing global pandemic.”