Events

Upcoming

IEEE Workshop on Multimodal and Alternative Perception for Visually Impaired People

During the 2013 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on Multimedia and Expo to be held in San Jose, California, from July 15 to 19, 2013, an IEEE/National Science Foundation Workshop on Multimodal and Alternative Perception for Visually Impaired People (MAP4VIP) will be presented. It will be led by the principle investigator for an FHWA Exploratory Advanced Research project on "Intelligent Situation Awareness and Navigation Aid for Visually Impaired Persons."  The workshop will bring researchers and practitioners from multiple disciplines (computer vision, neuroscience, multimedia computing, sensor technologies, and assistive technology applications) together to discuss fundamental issues in visual perception, computational intelligence, neuroscience, and visual prosthesis for helping blind and visually impaired people and people working in visually challenged environments. The workshop should provide the multimedia community a better understanding of human perception, human brain, and human-machine interaction issues for assisting visually impaired and challenged individuals. Specific topics include computer vision, sensing, and learning algorithms; visual prostheses and human-computer interaction; and neuroscience/biomechanical/psychological/societal studies.  Mohammed Yousuf, FHWA, is serving on the program committee for this workshop and can be reached at 202-493-3199, mohammed.yousuf@dot.gov. For more information, see http://www.icme2013.org/workshops.php.

Past

EAR Program Sponsored Behavioral Economics Research Being Spotlighted at TRB Session

During the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) 92nd Annual Meeting, the Transportation Economics (ABE20) committee sponsored a workshop on Using Experimental and Behavioral Economics to Improve the Understanding of Road, Transit, and Parking Pricing.  It was presented as a spotlight session on Sunday, January 13, 2013, at the Hilton, in Washington, DC. Karen White from FHWA’s Office of Transportation Policy Studies presided over the session, which used research from a behavioral economics project sponsored by FHWA’s Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) Program. This workshop was designed for both practitioners and researchers to learn about current research and demonstration projects incorporating the growing knowledge of human motivations and behaviors. The workshop featured hands-on experimental economics demonstrations, presentations on how to incorporate behavioral economics and cognitive psychology into road pricing projects and research, as well as presentations and papers from leading U.S. and international researchers.The growing field of behavioral economics/cognitive psychology has moved beyond understanding why individuals and public officials may not naturally select the most ‘rational’ choice and is beginning to create tools that enhance choice mechanisms.  Attendees were invited to visit the EAR Program booth (#2001) in the exhibit hall to take the ‘toll road challenge’ using the same simulator and guided route selection utilized in the EAR Program research project exploring toll and non-toll road choices. Go to TRB workshop details [http://pressamp.trb.org/aminteractiveprogram/EventDetails.aspx?ID=25658].

A national workshop, “New Clockwork for Time-Critical Systems” took place October 25 and 26, 2012, in Baltimore, Maryland. The High Confidence Software and Systems (HCSS) Coordinating Group of the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) subcommittee sought input from researchers, industry, and government agencies regarding problems, questions, and new directions for research on technology for time-critical systems. Time measurement, distribution, and agreement technology has reached an important inflection point providing much more accurate time references on physical scales ranging from microsystems to global systems. [More]

The Transportation Research Board sponsored a road vehicle automation workshop in Irvine, California on July 24-27, 2012, that included presentation on Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) Program sponsored projects – “Development and Evaluation of Selected Mobility Applications for Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration” and “Human Factors for Limited-Ability Autonomous Driving Systems, and Advanced Traffic Signal Control Algorithms.”  For more information, see http://www.trb.org/Calendar/Blurbs/166847.aspx.

April 24-26, 2012, the National Transportation Workforce Summit fostered a dialogue on needs for and development of a future U.S. transportation workforce.  The FHWA Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) Program engages research partners across sectors and across disciplines in building capacity for high-risk, high-impact research.  The exposure and ability to work across disciplines in cutting edge areas of science and engineering provide a critical training ground for the changing future workforce.  The Summit was organized by the Council of University Transportation Centers.

December 19, 2011, at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC), in McLean, VA, FHWA’s EAR Program sponsored a Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) Virtual Laboratory Workshop. The workshop was held to further define the concept of a national virtual research laboratory for NDE of highway structures and pavements.  A small group of national experts met with FHWA to consider the value of and process for the lab.

August 18-19, 2011 the Mid-Continent Transportation Research Symposium focused on the theme "Promising Research, Ready for Implementation” and included a presentation on EAR Program results.  For more information, see http://www.intrans.iastate.edu/events/midcon2011/.

May 18, 2011, the EAR Program Performance was presented at the 4th International Transportation Systems Performance Measurement Conference.  A poster presentation, “Measuring the Impact and Performance of Transport Research Programs” described how the EAR Program is developing a suite of measures to monitor and improve overall Program portfolio performance and predict the potential impact of research.  For more information, see http://www.trb.org/Calendar/Blurbs/
4th_International_Transportation_Systems_Performan_163448.aspx

February 23, 2011, at TFHRC, in McLean, VA, FHWA's EAR Program sponsored a workshop examining current and future advancements in Intelligent Transportation Systems and other technologies to improve accessible transportation for people with vision impairment and other disabilities.

January 26, 2011, the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Conduct of Research Committee sponsored session 659, Looking Toward the Horizon: Research Results from FHWA Exploratory Advanced Research Program at the TRB 2011 Annual Meeting. For more information, see http://www.trb.org/AnnualMeeting2011/
Public/AnnualMeeting2011.aspx.

November 4-5, 2010, Open Cities 2010 took place in Washington, DC exploring the use of new media. New media is playing an increasing role in the increased productivity of research from problem formation, collection and sharing of data, to communication of results. FHWA initiated discussion on leveraging new media in research as part of the 2010 Open Cities. [More]

May 5-7, 2010, the First International Conference in North America on Nanotechnology in Cement and Concrete explored the science and engineering of nanotechnology in modifying and monitoring the behavior and performance of cement and concrete at the nanoscale.

May 4, 2010, FHWA’s Exploratory Advanced Research Program hosted a workshop titled Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation (ABMS) to gather agent-based modeling experts from several fields outside of transportation to share their knowledge and experience on how such modeling method is being utilized to study issues such as consumer market and epidemiology. It was held at TFHRC.