TTI Graduate Student Wins Fellowship Award
TTI Associate Research Scientist Bryan Wilson was recently awarded the American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc. (ASNT) Fellowship Award for proposed research titled Ground Penetrating Radar as a Quality Assurance Tool in Hot-Mix Asphalt Road Construction. The ASNT Fellowship Award helps graduate students defray costs of post-graduate research in nondestructive testing. Wilson began his Ph.D. program in civil engineering at Texas A&M University in 2016, focusing on the design, laboratory testing and field implementation of thin performance and maintenance treatments, primarily thin asphalt overlays.
“Bryan’s selection as an ASNT Fellowship Award recipient is a testament to the high quality of students, research, and faculty and staff available at TTI and Texas A&M University,” notes TTI Research Scientist Stephen Sebesta, one of Wilson’s advisors.
TTI and 3M Expand Research Partnership at RELLIS Campus
The Texas A&M University System has signed a five-year master agreement with 3M to develop roadway signage and pavement marking technologies. The master agreement will provide for projects that can be awarded by 3M for A&M System research, training and technical assistance. TTI is currently conducting two projects through the agreement: one involves developing roadway signage technology that communicates important infrastructure information to drivers, and the other is evaluating new, innovative pavement-marking technologies readable by connected and automated vehicles in wet road conditions.
“The RELLIS Campus’ testbeds and proving grounds are the perfect place for the development of transformational technologies like these, and we are proud that 3M has chosen us as its partner on these important projects,” says Associate Vice Chancellor and RELLIS Campus Director John Barton.
TDS Celebrates 15 Years of Success
Teens in the Driver Seat® (TDS), the first peer-to-peer program for teens that focuses solely on traffic safety and addresses all major risks for this age group, recently reached a milestone anniversary of 15 years. This year, according to TDS Director Russell Henk, who founded the program, TDS will help more than 350 schools provide empowering, results-driven community services to make roads safer across the United States. The program continues to leverage positive peer influence to increase awareness of teen driving risks and encourage safer driving behaviors.
“Before our program existed, I can still remember watching news coverage of numerous fatal teen car crashes in our community, and then looking at my own children and imagining how difficult it was for those parents to lose their child so prematurely,” says Henk. “Our hope is to continue to leverage the influence peers have with each other to increase awareness of the primary teen driving risks and encourage safer driving behaviors.”
TTI’s Goodin, Stockton Named Regents Fellows
Recognized for their “exemplary service to their agency and the people of Texas,” TTI Senior Research Engineer Ginger Goodin and Executive Associate Director Bill Stockton were among the 10 people chosen from the A&M System’s agencies to be designated Regents Fellows for 2016–2017.
“I am really honored to be included with the ranks of those people named Regents Fellows since the program began in 1998,” Stockton says. Stockton serves as chief research officer for TTI and is the principal liaison to the Institute’s largest research sponsor, the Texas Department of Transportation.
Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp said the Regents Professors and Regents Fellows designees “represent the best of our great A&M System and higher education in Texas. They are true assets.”
Goodin, who specializes in transportation planning, intelligent transportation systems and automated vehicles, was most recently the director of the Transportation Policy Research Center at TTI. “It’s a very humbling experience and a real honor to be named a Regents Fellow because I never considered that I was qualified for such an award,” she says. “I’ve always had a deep respect for the people of TTI and for those before me that received this designation.”
Ledé Inducted into Texas Transportation Hall of Honor
Dr. Naomi W. Ledé, distinguished professor and founder and executive director emeritus of the Transportation Studies Program and Center for Transportation Training and Research (CTTR) at Texas Southern University (TSU), was inducted into the Texas Transportation Hall of Honor on Nov. 20. The induction ceremony and luncheon, hosted by TTI, took place at The Texas A&M University System’s Board of Regents’ dining room on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station.
During her 22 years at TSU, Ledé almost single-handedly developed and led CTTR, growing it into one of the strongest and most respected transportation centers in the country at a historically Black university. After retiring from TSU, Ledé served as senior research scientist at TTI for seven years, leading a Summer Transportation Institute for minority students.
“In the view of the board of directors of the Hall of Honor, perhaps what set Dr. Ledé apart from so many other deserving individuals was her unwavering commitment to training the next generation of transportation professionals and encouraging them in their careers,” said TTI Agency Director Greg Winfree, who opened the ceremony.
Joining Ledé for the event were a multitude of family members, TSU and TTI colleagues, former and current TSU students, and staff of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (Houston METRO), where she previously served as a board member.
In accepting the honor, Ledé thanked TTI for hosting the event and helping open the door for research partnerships at TSU. “If you go and seek the knowledge and work hard, you will see the results,” she said. “I will continue to help improve the lives of our students and encourage all of you to keep that up!”
TTI Receives Partnership Award from City of Irving
TTI was presented a 2017 Summit Partnership Award by members of the Irving Transportation Investment Summit, held Aug. 15–16.
This was the second year TTI assisted with the long-running Irving transportation gathering to “highlight the growth in Texas’ infrastructure market, build partnerships, encourage transit-oriented development, and develop strategies for increasing investment in sectors such as transportation, economic development, smart technology, water and energy.”
Among the TTI speakers or moderators for this year’s summit were Allan Rutter, head of TTI’s Freight Mobility and Infrastructure Analysis Division; Ginger Goodin, senior research engineer; and Christopher Poe, assistant director for connected and automated transportation strategy.
“We are proud to be a partner in Irving’s Transportation Investment Summit and the city’s forward-thinking approach and leadership role in Texas transportation,” says TTI Agency Director Greg Winfree. Winfree attended the summit and accepted the award on TTI’s behalf.
