Job Alert: Director of the Technology Transfer (T2) Center – Transportation Research Center (TRC) @ University of Florida, Gainesville

October 31, 2012 at 3:26 pm

Source: University of Florida

The Transportation Research Center (TRC) at the University of Florida is soliciting applications for the position of Director of the Technology Transfer (T2) Center. The appointment will be at the Assistant/Associate Engineer level based upon qualifications and experience. The salary and benefits package are competitive. This is a non-tenure track faculty appointment reporting to the director of the TRC.

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Test your App-titude! Uncle Sam challenges you to create a mobile solution to help American bus passengers

October 26, 2012 at 11:21 am

An interesting competition announced by the U.S. Department of Transportation encourages college students to design a better way to help consumers make smart decisions when booking their bus travel.  This is what you need to know about the challenge:

  • Who: Creative college students with imaginative ideas.
  • What: A mobile app or web-accessible tool that presents our safety information in a simple, intuitive way that would help the average person choose the safest bus available.
  • When: January 31st, 2013

Here is an embed of the announcement, as seen on USDOT Sec. Ray LaHood’s blog.  Please share widely.

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When Swarms Talk to Drones – Evolution of Robotics Is Approaching Scary Levels (And It is Awesome)

October 25, 2012 at 6:15 pm

There are many exciting developments in the world of robotics and here is one from the European Union, funded under the EU’s  7th Framework Programme.  The video below shows how a drone can take over command and control responsibilities of a swarm on the ground, without any external communication channels like GPS (i.e., Spatially Targeted Communication and Self-Assembly).  Some of the example applications shown here are cool, i.e, moving chairs, bringing snacks to a guy watching TV, pushing the water container, etc.  But this one has far more devastating implications when deployed for the military in remote battlefields.

Bleeding Treasure – Nationwide Insurance’s Infograph shows the impact of congested traffic on our wallet

October 19, 2012 at 3:17 pm

(via Nationwide)

To put it in simple terms, we blow up a lot of money sitting in traffic day in and day out.  Traffic congestion not only takes a toll on your mental & physical well being, but it also brings home a lot of economic pain. It is nice to see someone layout all this important statistics in an easy to understand, colorful visual.

So, how do we fix this mess? A good start would be to move towards transit-oriented development and provide good, cost-effective transit connectivity to the suburbs.. And add some bike lanes; etc, etc.  The solutions are plenty but we have to start somewhere before we go bankrupt.. soon!
The cost of traffic congestion.
Provided by Nationwide Insurance

Communications Director – Intelligent Transportation Society of America @ Washington, DC

October 17, 2012 at 4:21 pm

ITS America is looking for a dynamic leader to be our new Communications Director and we wanted to reach out and see if you know of any qualified candidates who may be interested in applying.  Among other responsibilities, the Communications Director manages ITS America’s outreach to mainstream and trade media; serves as media spokesperson and functions as communications liaison to ITS America’s staff, state chapters and 400+ member companies and organizations; researches, writes and edits articles, press releases, online content and other promotional materials; and assists with the planning and promotion of meetings and events for the transportation industry, news media, policymakers and other key audiences.  Candidates should have at least 4-5 years of relevant experience, plus exceptional writing skills and attention to detail.  The position description is online at http://www.itsa.org/aboutus/itsamericapositionopenings, and candidates can submit their resume and writing samples to pfeenstra@itsa.org.

Friday Fun: Dancing on the deck – F-35 Ship Suitability Testing

October 5, 2012 at 6:29 pm

Saw this beauty on my way out the door to start the weekend..   It is a bit old – Oct 2011- but still awesome to watch the beast fly in and out of the deck of a floating pad.. Description (as shown in the video below): the F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing variant completed ship suitability testing aboard the USS WASP (LHD-1) off the coast of Virginia in October 2011. Combined, F-35B test aircraft BF-2 and BF-4 accomplished 72 short takeoffs and 72 vertical landings during the three-week testing period.

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On a related note, if you are an aviation/space enthusiast, there is a good reason why you should be up early on Sunday .. This weekend is you get to see the launch of the SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services-1 (CRS-1) mission. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon Capsule is scheduled for 8:35 p.m. EDT on Sunday. Launch coverage will begin at 7 p.m. on NASA Television and http://www.nasa.gov/ntv. On Saturday, NASA TV will air an International Space Station Science Briefing at 3 p.m. and the SpaceX CRS-1 Prelaunch News Conference at 6 p.m. Have fun!

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All State’s Infograph Shows How Obese Drivers Impact the Fuel Efficiency of Cars

October 4, 2012 at 2:12 pm

Found this neat infograph via a tweet yesterday.. Couldn’t go without sharing it here.

Note: One of the subtle yet unexplored issue is the impact of America’s bulging waistlines on our national security.. It is not about our Armed forces struggling to find men and women who are physically fit.  If you look at it from a macro level, the obesity issue has some serious implications for our national security. You may ask why? Because we import way too much of our oil from some of the very troubled parts of the world to haul our our people around the streets and highways of this nation.   According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), In 2011, the United States consumed about 134 billion gallons1 (or 3.19 billion  barrels2) of gasoline, a daily average of about 367.08 million gallons (8.74 million barrels). This was about 6% less than the record high of about 142.38 billion gallons (or 3.39 billion barrels) consumed in 2007.  Interestingly,  the U.S. imported approximately 11.4 million barrels per day of petroleum in 2011 from about 80 countries (~45% net consumption is from imported oil).  So, the heavier we become as a nation, the more fuel we will consume everyday. The more we import, more money goes to these troubled countries and eventually resulting in conflicts that inflict a greater loss of life.  Some of these conflicts zones even have our personnel directly engaged in combat and  now you see where this is going? Glad the current administration is taking steps to minimize our oil consumption with such measures as raising fuel economy standards but as a nation we still have a long way to go before we reach a secure energy future. And to get there every ounce matters.

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Job Alert: Transportation Engineer @ Booz Allen Hamilton – Washington, DC

August 7, 2012 at 4:52 pm

via YPT Boston

Booz Allen Hamilton is seeking junior to mid-level candidate to assist with expanding analytics (in particular modeling and simulation) footprint in the surface transportation market, including but not limited to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Candidate will be required to assist in delivery of projects in the areas of ITS research and Transportation Management and Operations. This position is located in Washington DC. The candidate shall meet following requirements.

1. Transportation Engineering degree

2. Good data analysis skills

3. Understanding of modeling and simulation methodology and development

4. Experience in two or more transportation modeling packages such as TransCAD, VISSIM, DynusT, CORSIM, TRANSIMS, CUBE etc.

5. Experience in business development (optional)

Interested candidates shall contact Balaji Yelchuru (yelchuru_balaji@bah.com)

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MIT Study On Disease Contagion Identifies & Ranks Airports In Terms of Their Ability To Spread Pandemic Diseases

July 25, 2012 at 2:55 pm

(via MIT News)

Airports in New York, Los Angeles and Honolulu are judged likeliest to play a significant role in the growth of a pandemic.

Apart from the aesthetic beauty this dynamic data visualization, the video also offers a lot to think about if you are a person tasked with natioanl security should a contagious disease be detected…  Also, it helped me understand how pandemics can easily spread between far flung places via air travelers. Pretty interesting yet quite scary stuff..  That said, it makes me wonder how ready is our aviation infrastructure to handle a healthcare crisis like the one triggered by SARS or h1n1 virus a few years a back..

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Click here to read the analysis published on MIT News

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Career Building Alert: AASHTO ENGINEERING FELLOW – AN INVALUABLE EXPERIENCE

July 25, 2012 at 2:13 pm

Nature of Position:

American Association of State Highway and Tran...

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO ) Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The successful candidate will assist senior AASHTO engineering staff in the work it provides for the Board of Directors (i.e., the Secretaries of Transportation from the State DOTs), the Standing Committee on Highways (i.e., the Chief Engineers), and its subcommittees, which include design, construction, bridges, traffic engineering, operations, maintenance, materials, and others. The following are some of the potential activities of the successful candidate:

• assisting in the development and update of AASHTO’s technical standards, such as the Green Book, Roadside Design Guide, and Bicycle Guide;

• assisting in organizing national meetings and conferences by providing assistance to AASHTO committee officers;

• participating in AASHTO committee meetings around the country;

• assisting in the development of national policy on transportation operations and project delivery; and

• providing other assistance as required.

The incumbent may also work with a variety of technical committees in the production of engineering and operations-related professional publications, and will respond to technical inquiries on AASHTO publications and policies.

Education: A Bachelor of Science degree in engineering is required.

Skill Requirement: A broad understanding of the technical aspects of one or more aspects of transportation engineering and a sound comprehension of the administrative, legislative, and regulatory process at the federal and state levels. Excellent written and oral communication skills are also desired. The incumbent must be able to travel.

Relevant Experience: Approximately 8 to 15 years of professional experience in transportation is required, preferably in a State DOT. It is desirable that some of the previous experience be at a policy planning or management level in a state, local, or federal transportation agency.

Relationships: The incumbent will have contact with AASHTO committee members through meeting attendance, correspondence, and telephone contacts and will assist other AASHTO staff members as required by the Program Director.

Position Responsibilities: The incumbent will provide input as requested relative to association policy formulation. From a technical perspective, the incumbent is expected to work with the various AASHTO technical committees on standards, training, and research. This individual may be called on to participate in various planning efforts, and is responsible for developing certain elements of the association’s annual and spring conferences. Depending on the specific duties assigned, the individual may be expected to assist with publication activities.

The incumbent will be expected to draft, write, or edit transportation policy statements or resolutions related to assigned duties, or other areas of interest to the association. However, such positions may not be established without approval by higher authorities.

Since this is a competitive position among interested state departments of transportation, recruitment time is unknown, but is estimated to be three months from the date of advertisement.

Expenses: The position will include a monthly living stipend reimbursable to a maximum of $2,200 per month, plus a public transit subsidy of up to $120 per month. AASHTO will pay a one-time round-trip transportation ticket to/from Washington, DC. Appropriate business expenses related to AASHTO work and travel assignments will be reimbursed.

Competition: A panel of AASHTO managers and engineering staff will evaluate applicants. Send resume and letter of endorsement from State DOT director to AASHTO, Attention: Human Resource Manager, 444 N. Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20001. Resumes and letters of endorsement may also be submitted by e-mail to cbeauvais@aashto.org or by fax to 202-624-8471. EOE/M/F/D.

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