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Volpe Center Highlights - January/February 2003

Papers and Presentations

Director's Notes | Focus | Safety | Mobility and Economic Growth
Human and Natural Environment | Organizational Excellence | Homeland Security
Awards | Papers and Presentations

A full-scale, seat-fire test conducted on an Amtrak rail coach car, part of Volpe's support of DOT rail vehicle fire safety requirements.

• On September 27, 2002, Ms. Stephanie Markos of the Railroad Systems Division presented a paper titled "DOT Rail Vehicle Fire Safety Requirements" at Composites 2002, the annual convention of the Composites Fabricators Association held in Atlanta, Georgia. This paper describes the Volpe-supported development and revision of the Federal Railroad Administration and Federal Transit Administration fire safety performance requirements for materials used in constructing rail vehicles.

• On October 10, 2002, Dr. Piyali Talukdar and Ms. Bess Rabin of the Economic and Industry Analysis Division delivered a draft study review to RSPA's Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS). OPS had requested technical support from the Volpe Center in its evaluation of a study, "The U.S. Oil Pipeline Industry's Safety Performance," conducted by the Association of Oil Pipelines and the American Petroleum Institute. The study focuses on the oil pipeline industry's spill and safety records. The Volpe review should help OPS to identify and prioritize inspections on their regulated pipeline systems.

• On October 19, 2002, Mr. Adrian Hellman of the Railroad Systems Division presented a paper titled "Preliminary Evaluation of the School Street Four-Quadrant Gate Highway-Railroad Grade Crossing" at the 9th Intelligent Transportation Systems World Congress in Chicago, Illinois. This research was funded by the Federal Railroad Administration's Office of Research and Development.

• On October 21, 2002, Dr. Don Pickrell of the Office of System and Economic Assessment delivered a presentation titled "Induced Demand, Latent Demand: What Really Happens When We Expand Transportation Capacity?" to the UCLA Public Policy Symposium "Tackling Traffic Congestion" held in Lake Arrowhead, California. Dr. Pickrell's presentation is an outgrowth of Volpe Center research on the subject of induced travel demand conducted in support of the Highway Needs and Investment Team of the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Legislation and Strategic Planning. Dr. Pickrell's paper "Induced Demand: Its Definition, Measurement, and Significance" was also published in October 2002, as part of the Eno Transportation Foundation's Working Together to Address Induced Demand: Proceedings of a Forum" (Washington, D.C., Eno Transportation Foundation, 2002).

• Mr. Patrick Martone, Surveillance and Sensors Division, presented a paper titled "Helicopter In-flight Tracking System (HITS) for the Gulf of Mexico" at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 21st Digital Avionics Systems Conference held in Irvine, California, October 2731, 2002. HITS, a NASA Ames-funded research project conducted by the Volpe Center, has direct application to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) initiatives related to improved airspace management.

• October 28 through 31, 2002, the National Information Systems Security Conference and Exposition was held in San Antonio, Texas. Mr. David Sawin of the Infrastructure Protection and Operations Division delivered two presentations, "World Wide Web Security" and "Information Security 101 Best Practices." Mr. Sawin also assisted the FAA's Office of Information Systems Security in organizing the conference.

• On November 6, 2002, Mr. Kevin Harnett of the Infrastructure Protection and Operations Division participated in the Annual Air Traffic Control Association Conference in Washington, D.C. In support of FAA's National Airspace System (NAS) Program, the Volpe Center is directing several major Information System Security (ISS) projects. Mr. Harnett participated in an ISS panel and gave a presentation on ISS issues, challenges, and opportunities for the NAS in an open architecture environment.

• On November 6, 2002, Dr. James Carroll of the Center for Navigation presented the keynote speech at the "NAV02" conference and exhibition, hosted by the Royal Institute of Navigation in London, United Kingdom. The theme of this conference was Global Navigation Satellite System vulnerability. In his speech, "Vulnerability Assessment of the Civilian U.S. Transportation Infrastructure Relying on GPS," Dr. Carroll presented the major results of the recent Volpe Center report on GPS vulnerability.

Mr. Mattson's presentation addressed the characteristics of the U.S. transportation system, biothreats and the role of transportation, and current transportation security measures.

• Mr. Phil Mattson, Chief of the Environmental Engineering Division, presented a transportation overview and moderated a panel discussion at the conference "BioSecurity 2002" held in Las Vegas, Nevada, during November 18-21, 2002. The conference agenda was developed by Harvard Medical School, Harvard Medical International, and Harvard School of Public Health to promote understanding of the current state of preparedness and the tools to develop practical solutions to challenges facing the global community.

• On November 26, 2002, Mr. Michael Dinning, Chief of the Volpe Center's Infrastructure Protection and Operations Division, gave a lecture on Transportation Security Technologies at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science of the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Mr. Dinning is a member of the university's Industry Advisory Board.

• In support of the FRA's Office of Research and Development, the Volpe Center conducted an analysis of the relation between the temperature of the work environment and the performance of mental, or "cognitive," tasks. This research was published in a recent issue of Ergonomics [Volume 45, No. 10, 2002], the official journal of the Ergonomics Society and the International Ergonomics Association. Authors Dr. June Pilcher of Clemson University (a Volpe Center contractor), Dr. Eric Nadler of Volpe's Operator Performance and Safety Analysis Division, and Dr. Caroline Busch of the U.S. Army Soldier Center (a Volpe Center contractor) found systematic relationships between temperature and particular categories of cognitive performance.

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