ODU RECEIVES UNIVERSITY TRANSPORTATION CENTERS PROGRAM GRANT

Old Dominion University is part of a consortium of four schools that will share in a 2012 University Transportation Centers (UTC) tier 1 grant.

The research will focus on "transportation for livability by integrating vehicles and the environment," or TransLIVE for short."The main mission of the centers is to help our nation achieve the goals of a cleaner environment and greater energy independence through developing new technologies and decision support tools," said Asad Khattak, professor of civil engineering and director of the ODU Transportation Research Institute, who served as PI for the grant.

As a tier 1 grant recipient, ODU will share in a $3.5 million grant (requiring matching funding from participant schools) as part of a team led by the University of Idaho, and including Virginia Tech, Syracuse University and Texas Southern University. ODU's share will be approximately $600,000, plus matching funds. The funds will cover faculty, staff and student salaries, permanent equipment and student tuition.

Only 10 of 46 applications were selected to receive tier 1 grant status. This is the first time ODU has participated in the UTC program, which awards grants to universities across the United States to advance transportation research and develop the next generation of transportation professionals.

Khattak will work with two co-PIs, Mike Robinson, research assistant professor at ODU's Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC), and Mecit Cetin, assistant professor of modeling and simulation research.

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