News

The University of Texas Graduate Engineering Council hosted their annual Graduate and Industry Networking event (GAIN) on February 5.

Each year, the D-STOP Symposium brings together top experts in the field of automated vehicles, connected infrastructure and new mobility services to share their emerging research that will impact the future of transportation planning and technology.

WNCG student Ahmed Kord was recently awarded a Graduate Dean’s Prestigious Fellowship Supplement for the 2016-2017 academic year. The award was presented in recognition of Kord’s receipt of an external Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship earlier this year. “This award bespeaks [Kord’s] excellent performance, his initiative to go after external support for his research, and his program’s enthusiastic support of him,” Marvin Hackert, Interim Dean of Graduate Studies at UT Austin, stated in Kord’s acceptance letter.

The Data-Supported Transportation Operations and Planning Center (D-STOP) from UT Austin met with representatives from local and state government, academia and industry in early April at a symposium designed to collaborate on the future of Smart Cities. The day-long event explored smart transportation systems, collaborative ecosystems, infrastructure-based technology, regional planning and analytics and connected vehicles through a series of panels featuring experts in the field.

In 2013, 32,719 fatalities resulted from traffic crashes, most of which were caused by driver error. Across the globe, people are facing longer commutes and five Texas communities are in the top 26 most congested cities in the United States. Traffic congestion creates about 4.8 billion hours of travel delay and affects the environment through increased carbon footprints and higher fuel consumption.