5th Annual UTC Conference for the Southeastern Region

5th Annual UTC Conference for the Southeastern Region

November 16-17, 2017

The UTC Conference is an annual event that is hosted by a University Transportation Center (UTC) in the Southeastern U.S. The purpose of this conference is to disseminate information and foster collaboration among the academic community and the private and public sector agencies. This two-day event featured keynote speakers, various paper and poster presentations, a state DOT panel, a WTS and ITE student session, and an AV/CV demonstration. In 2013, the STRIDE Center conceptualized and hosted the first conference of its kind in Orlando, Fla. Other universities which have hosted a UTC Conference for the Southeastern Region include: the National Center for Transportation Systems Productivity and Management (NCTSPM), Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014; the Department of Civil, Construction & Environmental Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2015; and in 2016, the Southeastern Transportation Center (STC), University of Tennessee, Knoxville. After being selected as the 2016 regional UTC for the Southeastern Region, the STRIDE Center hosted the UTC Conference, held at the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville.

More than 50 presentations on topics such as Infrastructure, Operations, Safety, Aviation and Energy, Multimodal, Traveler Issues, Transit, Planning, and Freight were offered, including 65 posters from both graduate students and faculty, of which 60 were from students. Students who participated in a podium or poster presentation competed for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards worth $500, $250, and $100. The conference was free and open to faculty, students, practitioners, and public agencies in the region.

The Conference Planning Committee includes:

Lily Elefteriadou, Ph.D., STRIDE Center, University of Florida; Armin Mehrabi, Ph.D., Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC-UTC), FIU; Robert Bertini, Ph.D., Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR), USF; Mashrur “Ronnie” Chowdhury, Ph.D., Glenn Department of Civil Engineering, Clemson University; David Harkey, Ph.D., Collaborative Sciences Center for Road Safety (USDOT National Center), University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; Michael Hunter, Ph.D., GaTech; Evangelos Kaisar, Ph.D., Freight Mobility Research Institute, Florida Atlantic University; Maranda McBride, Ph.D., Center for Advanced Transportation Mobility, North Carolina A&T State University; John Sobanjo, Ph.D., Center for Safe & Accessible Transportation for an Aging Population, Florida State University