• June 18, 2019

    PacTrans has Strong Turnout at ASCE ICTD 2019

    Several weeks ago, seven faculty and student researchers from PacTrans attended the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) International Conference on Transportation (ICTD) and Development in Alexandria, Virginia. ICTD, organized by the Transportation and Development Institute (T&DI), is ASCE’s flagship conference in transportation and development. This year’s theme was Engineering Smart Mobility for the Smart City.

    This three-day conference of technical programs featured six plenary sessions which included national leaders from ASCE, T&DI, government agencies, universities, and private industry discussing core conference themes. The program also covered deeper technical content on multiple topics and modes in transportation and development through eight concurrent tracks. Speakers included a unique blend of invited technical experts and academic leaders in podium presentations. In addition, a dedicated poster session provided the opportunity for attendees to learn about cutting edge research in smart cities and smart mobility with direct access to the authors. The program also included a variety of special events such as the Younger Members’ sessions on “The Best Advice I Ever Received” and a 3-Minute Pitch Competition, along with a wonderful icebreaker reception, T&DI Technical Committee Meetings, and T&DI’s Annual Awards Banquet. The conference concluded with two technical tours, one at FHWA’s Turner Fairbanks facility and one at the Reagan National Airport.

    Representatives from PacTrans included:

    • PacTrans Director, Yinhai Wang, was the immediate past co-chair for the conference and the current president of T&DI. He gave a welcome address during the first plenary session, moderated two technical sessions, and had a poster in the poster session.
    • PacTrans Associate Director, David Hurwitz, moderated a technical session and presented a poster in the poster session.
    • PacTrans Assistant Director, Cole Kopca, attended the conference.
    • PacTrans faculty researcher, Kevin Chang, attended the conference and presented a poster in the poster session.
    • PacTrans faculty researcher, Cynthia Chen, attended the conference and presented research in a technical session.
    • PacTrans student researcher, Zi Yuan Pu, attended the conference and presented a poster in the poster session.
    • PacTrans student researcher, Meixin Zhu, attended the conference and presented research in a technical session.

    This is the second consecutive year that PacTrans has had a strong presence at this annual conference. It is a great venue for our researchers to present their work to industry and fellow academics. Next year’s conference will be held in Seattle, WA, and co-chaired by WSDOT Secretary, Roger Millar, and PacTrans Director, Yinhai Wang.