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Volpe Center Air Quality Facility

Staff Biography

Richard D. Wright
M.S., Mathematics,
Tufts, University, Medford, MA, 1974
B.A., Mathematics,
Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 1968

Mr. Wright is the Volpe Center National Expert on Traffic Management and Information Systems. In that role he consults to the Volpe Center, DOT and the technical transportation community on technical and systems issues related to the design, development, and implementation of traffic management systems and their automation. Currently, he is consulting with the SAGE Fuel Burn Project on the use of hydrocarbon fuels by aviation and with the Global Disease Migration Project on the role of aviation in the spread of pandemics.

Mr. Wright is also involved with the exploration of new areas of application of Traffic Management technology and the opening of research opportunities for the Volpe Center. He has developed cooperative research and development programs with public and private partnerships including National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States Air Force (USAF), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Graphics, New York Office of Emergency Management, Boston Metropolitan Area Planning Council and others.

Previously, Mr. Wright was Chief of the US Dept. of Transportation, Volpe Center, Automation Application Division, a position he held from 1991 to 1999. The Division has primary responsibility for the FAAs Enhanced (Air) Traffic Management System (ETMS), which the FAA uses for strategic air traffic control. Mr. Wright and his team developed the ETMS under the sponsorship of the companion Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) program for introduction of new technology into FAA flow management operations.

Mr. Wright has worked in a wide variety of technical positions, including Vessel Traffic System (VTS) simulation and engineering and Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system design and simulation, at the Volpe Center, since its creation in 1971. Prior to that, Mr. Wright worked for NASA.