Communication Associate: Public Relations | Lori Melton |
lmelton@d.umn.edu | (218) 726-8830
March 26, 2001
Susan Beasy Latto, Director
of Public Relations 218 726-8830
Vince Magnuson, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs 218 726-7103
James Riehl, Dean of College of Science & Engineering 218 726-6397
Major Transportation Study
Center Opened at UMD
Receives $3.7 Million for Northland Transportation & Infrastructure
Research
At a news conference today Chancellor
Kathryn A. Martin, Congressman James Oberstar and State Transportation Commissioner
Elwyn Tinklenberg announced the establishment of a UMD research center to
study comprehensive winter transportation systems and the transportation
needs of cities in small urban areas. The new facility, named the Northland
Advanced Transportation Systems Research Laboratories (NATSRL), is a
cooperative research and education initiative of the University of Minnesota
Center for Transportation Studies and its Intelligent Transportation Systems
Institute, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and the UMD
College of Science & Engineering.
NATSRL will receive $3.7 million over four years from federal
transportation funds, MnDOT and the University of Minnesota. The center
will study a large variety of topics including visual and electronic traffic
and road sensors, inventory management of transportation infrastructure,
and traffic density. NATSRL will work collaboratively with MnDOT
District One, city and county engineers and the university research community
to address transportation-related needs, including those that are specific
to the Northland area and its climate.
Chancellor Martin said, "We are proud to announce the establishment
of NATSRL on the UMD campus. The issues of transportation for the
21st century are complex and challenging and have significant political,
geographic and human implications. It is indeed important work, and our
gifted faculty are up to the challenge."
NATSRL will be structured into three major units with the following
areas of research and study:
Advanced Sensor Research Laboratory
- Development and testing of advanced sensing technologies for pavement and road conditions (speed, slipperiness, traffic density)
- Real-world analysis and real-time measurements using a building constructed on the MnDOT facility at milepost 237 on Highway I-35 (near Black Bear Casino)
- Development of new techniques to detect incidents and abnormal traffic conditions
Transportation Data Research Laboratory
- Development of a state-wide traffic data and data archival and analysis system
- Development of automatic inventory management system for transportation infrastructure
- Design of efficient management strategies for small urban and large-scale event traffic flow using modern visualization and management tools
Education and Outreach Programs in Transportation
- Establishment of minority student research programs involving transportation issues
- Development of information retrieval, visualization strategies, and man-machine interfaces for transportation data
NATSRL will be staffed by UMD College of Science & Engineering
faculty members from the departments of Computer Science, Industrial Engineering,
and Electrical & Computer Engineering. James Riehl, Dean of the College
of Science & Engineering, is NATSRL director. He will head
a leadership team which includes: Stanley Burns, Professor and Head, Department
of Electrical & Computer Engineering; Donald Crouch, Professor and
Head, Department Computer Science; Taek Mu Kwon, Associate Professor,
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering; and David Wyrick,
Associate Professor and Head, Department of Industrial Engineering. Graduate
and undergraduate students from UMD will be involved in NATSRL
projects. Students from Fond du Lac Tribal Community College will also
work at the center through funding provided by a Careers in Transportation
outreach education grant.
UMD News Releases