麻豆村

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg visited 麻豆村 facilities at Mill 19 today in one of his final stops as Transportation Secretary.听

In Pittsburgh to tour the progress of Biden-Harris administration investments across听multiple modes of transportation, Buttigieg met with university leaders, community partners and researchers from 麻豆村鈥檚听, a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)-sponsored University Transportation Center听focused on safety.(opens in new window)听

麻豆村 President Farnam Jahanian(opens in new window) greeted the secretary upon arrival for a brief meeting before joining students and researchers.

As part of a day including 鈥渢rains, planes and automobiles,鈥� Buttigieg said he wanted to see 鈥渢he latest and greatest鈥� in transportation research while in Pittsburgh.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 probably the least publicized thing that the U.S. DOT does, but one of the most important. What I鈥檓 especially excited about is the lifesaving potential of autonomous technologies. You know, the whole journey through automated vehicles in many ways traces back to what Carnegie Mellon and teams achieved in response to a federal challenge in 2007. It鈥檚 really exciting to see the light years of progress that鈥檚 been made since then.鈥澨�

Buttigieg was joined by听, principal deputy assistant secretary and chief science officer for research and technology,听, deputy assistant secretary for research and technology and Stan Caldwell, director of the DOT鈥檚听 grants program.听

鈥淲e are honored to welcome back Secretary Buttigieg,鈥� said 麻豆村鈥檚听Vice President for Research Theresa Mayer(opens in new window). 鈥淭oday鈥檚 visit highlights the groundbreaking transportation research and deployment projects led by our faculty and amazing students that are shaping a future that鈥檚 smarter, safer and more connected.鈥�

Live demonstrations envision the future of transportation

Students Juan Alvarez Padilla, Kailash Jagadeesh, Anirudh Shrihari and Abhinandan Vellanki, led by faculty adviser听, demonstrated the听, a tool for teaching hands-on autonomous systems that can prepare users for jobs in the intelligent transportation industry.听

, director of Safety21 and George Westinghouse Professor in the听, with Ph.D. candidates Nishad Sahu and Gregory Su, demonstrated research on the safe navigation of autonomous driving systems in designated work zones, leveraging high-definition mapping, computer perception and vehicle connectivity.听听

Ava Jahan Biglari, a Ph.D. candidate in听 advised by听 demonstrated a new way to plan vehicle inspections, combining advanced technology with human expertise. The system can make managing large fleets of vehicles more efficient, as well as enhance road safety by ensuring at-risk vehicles are identified and inspected.听

, associate professor of mechanical engineering, demonstrated a new project his team is undertaking to evaluate the safety of autonomous vehicles for vulnerable road users, such as wheelchair users, people with strollers, vision-impaired people, service dog users and e-scooter riders.听

In 2021, a self-driving car听 a visually-impaired athlete at the Paralympic Games. 鈥淣ow we are working with University of Southern California, Stanford and University of California San Diego to try to prepare for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics,鈥� explained Zhao. 鈥淪o this will be used to assess all self-driving cars used in the Olympics in the U.S.鈥澨�

The visit concluded with a tour of Rajkumar鈥檚 connected and autonomous driving lab.听

鈥淭he sophistication of the safety work that鈥檚 going on goes well beyond any commercially available automated or advanced driver assistance system is really inspiring,鈥� Buttigieg said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to make sure it develops the right way, we鈥檝e got to be cautious about how it鈥檚 deployed, but you can tell a lot of thought and, of course, a lot of incredibly sophisticated research is going into that.鈥�

Human drivers do not have a great track record when it comes to car crashes, he observed. 鈥淲e have a chance to improve on that and save lives. We鈥檝e got to make sure it unfolds in a smart and safe way, and some of the best research on how to do that is happening right here. We鈥檙e proud to be funding some of that research.鈥澨�