A fifth-year doctoral student in biomedical engineering and mechanics at Virginia Tech, Eileen Herbers, was named the Student of the Year for the Safe-D: Safety through Disruption University Transportation Center. Herbers was presented with the award for her work on measuring the potential safety impact of automated driving systems at the Council of University Transportation Centers Awards Banquet preceding the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting on Jan. 6.
Django Bergcollins, an Undergraduate Civil Engineering with a minor in Computer Science at San Diego State University, has been honored as a University Transportation Center (UTC) Student of the Year for 2022. He assisted with two Safe-D projects: Developing an Intelligent Transportation Management Center (ITMC) with a Safety Evaluation Focus for Smart Cities and A Holistic Work Zone Safety Alert System through Automated Video and Smartphone Sensor Data Analysis
Adam Novotny exemplifies how traditional education supplemented by hands-on work experience is the formula for success. Adam decided to come to Virginia Tech to pursue a doctorate in Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics after earning a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The College of New Jersey in 2018. He explains: “By the time I was graduating college, I became interested in applying my mechanical engineering background to improve human safety and I was really impressed by the research conducted at VTTI.”
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) hosted two groups of campers on June 23 and 30 from Texas A&M University’s Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering’s Camp BUILD. TTI Senior Research Engineer Melisa Finley and Associate Research Engineer Debbie Albert organized the sessions with support from Texas A&M students and volunteers.
Safe-D director Zac Doerzaph wrapped up DRIVE SMART Virginia‘s 9th Annual Distracted Driving Summit with some great information on what is coming next in traffic safety: “Naturalistic driving data will be even more important in the future.”
Safe-D program manager Eric Glenn was honored with the Virginia Tech Presidential Principles of Community Award for his work establishing the VTTI’s Road to Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (RIDE) Committee.