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Volpe Center Highlights - March/April 2003SafetyDirector's Notes |
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Mobility and Economic Growth 
Volpe Staff Member Named to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (NASA)
Since 1996, Dr. James Hallock, Chief of the Aviation Safety Division, has been a member of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Shuttle and Space Station Interagency Mishap Board, which NASA established to provide rapid investigatory response in the event of a space shuttle or station mishap. Board members are always on call during any shuttle mission. After the recent Columbia Space Shuttle accident, Dr. Hallock was selected to serve on the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB). This independent board is charged with determining what caused the destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia and the loss of its seven-member crew on February 1, 2003, during reentry, as well as recommending preventive and other appropriate actions to preclude recurrence of a similar mishap. For information about the CAIB and its investigation, visit http://www.caib.us/. In 1966, Dr. Hallock joined NASA's Electronics Research Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where his work involved the development of a holographic spacecraft attitude system and optical spatial filtering techniques. In 1970, he joined the DOT's Transportation Systems Center (since renamed for former DOT Secretary John A. Volpe). Dr. Hallock's work at the Volpe Center has included developing and testing optical guidance systems for aircraft, the study of aircraft wake vortices, the development of flight procedures, the conduct of safety analyses in support of rulemaking, and the development of aviation regulations and aviation safety information systems. Dr. Hallock is a senior member of American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics and a member of the MIT Educational Council. He serves on review boards for the Canadian government and the Federal Aviation Administration as well as the NASA Space Shuttle program. He has authored or co-authored two patents and more than 125 papers and reports. Making Safety Analysis and Information Available (FMCSA)
A Volpe Center team is providing analytical support to two Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) projects that provide Web-based access to safety information about motor carriers and FMCSA safety programs. The first project provides more frequent and enhanced updates to SafeStat, an automated, data-driven analysis system that determines the relative safety status of individual motor carriers. Developed by Volpe's Motor Carrier Safety Assessment Division, SafeStat is an important tool used in key federal and state safety-enforcement programs to identify and prioritize carriers with safety deficiencies for safety audits and roadside inspections nationwide. SafeStat results are also used extensively by the motor carrier industry, insurance companies, shippers, and truck-leasing companies. Until recently, SafeStat results were updated semi-annually. The Division and FMCSA launched "Monthly SafeStat," providing users with more timely safety analysis. The Volpe-developed SafeStat Web site will include the previously posted, semi-annual historical results as well as the new monthly results. The Volpe team is led by Mr. Don Wright and includes Mr. Dave Madsen, Ms. Beth Deysher, and Ms. Julie Nixon, all of the Division. Lessons learned from Volpe's development of earlier safety performance monitoring systems formed the foundation for SafeStat. Soon after a deadly air charter accident in 1985, the Department of Defense (DoD) asked the Volpe Center to develop an automated safety monitoring system for charter air carriers used by the DoD. The resulting Air Carrier Analysis Support (ACAS) system was designed to monitor a number of performance measures and call attention to an air carrier deviating from a normal pattern. In 1993, a Volpe team including a key member of the ACAS development team began work on a new safety profiling system for motor carriers based on ACAS. SafeStat and its Internet-based information delivery system now set the standard for motor carrier safety measurement and information distribution at all levels of government and in the private sector. A new project will provide the general public with safety information about commercial motor coach passenger carriers. Ms. Nancy Kennedy and Mr. Doug Rickenback of Volpe's Motor Carrier Safety Assessment Division initiated this project with FMCSA's Commercial Passenger Carrier Safety Division. The Volpe team will develop the requirements for a methodology to assess the safety of commercial motor coach passenger carriers and disseminate the analysis, safety data, and statistics to the general public via a new, customer-oriented module in the Analysis and Information (A&I) Online Web site. Currently, the A&I Web site disseminates safety data and statistics on all motor carriers that operate in the United States, including passenger carriers. The new module will support organizations such as schools in making safety-conscious decisions when hiring bus, minivan, or motor coach companies for tours, school field trips, or other events. Exchanging Research Information with Canadian Counterparts (FRA)In order to benefit from technical research efforts in the United States and Canada, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Transport Canada (the Canadian ministry of transportation) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in May 2002 regarding highway-rail grade crossing safety and trespass prevention research. The memorandum enables the two agencies to share information and cooperate on projects with no monetary exchanges.
The objective of this international partnership is to provide options for increasing the safety and cost-effectiveness of grade crossing systems through technological, operational, and human factors research. It aims to develop a better understanding of the factors contributing to grade crossing and trespassing incidents and to enhance the effectiveness and range of countermeasures. A multidisciplinary Volpe team recently hosted the first in a series of meetings on grade crossing research in North America. The meeting, held at the Center, provided a forum for the technical exchange of research on railroad horn systems. Representatives from Transport Canada, the Volpe Center, and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) concluded that the efforts on both sides of the border were complementary, and identified further collaborative efforts: acoustic warning systems, driver and pedestrian behavior, motor carrier safety rating, trespass prevention, second-train warning systems, low-cost, active-warning systems, and LED technology studies. The Volpe team consisted of Ms. Anya A. Carroll and Ms. Suzanne Sposato of the Railroad Systems Division, Ms. Amanda Rapoza of the Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division, Dr. Jordan Multer of the Operator Performance and Safety Analysis Division, and Mr. Jonathan Mozenter of EG&G Technical Services, Inc. (a Volpe Center contractor). Facilitating Collaboration on the Prevention of Head Injury (U.S. Army)The Volpe Center held the International Conference on Closed Head Trauma with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, in collaboration with the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission. The conference was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was chaired by Dr. Faris Bandak of the Volpe Center and Col. John Crowley of the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory. It brought together researchers in the physical and medical sciences who are interested in the prevention of head injury. The Volpe Center was responsible for developing the scientific program. International experts presented the latest in epidemiology, biomechanics and neuroimaging of traumatic brain injury (TBI) as well as neuropsychological and cognitive assessment methods for mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), neuropathology, and helmet standards and technologies. The scientific program was directly related to ongoing biomechanics research at the Volpe Center and provided Volpe staff opportunities for international collaboration with researchers from industry and governments both domestically and internationally. The conference also provided an opportunity for Volpe staff to meet with research collaborators from the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy on injury biomechanics. The conference also served as a forum where previous Volpe work such as Injury Measures for Rotational Head Loading and SIMon (Simulated Injury Monitor), the head injury assessment tool developed by the Volpe Center for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), were cited and discussed amongst the participants. Volpe Receives Awards for Videos on Ethics and Safety
Recently, two videos produced by the Volpe Center won Awards of Distinction in the 2002 Communicator Awards, an international competition honoring excellence in visual communications. Ms. Ann DiMare of the Aviation Safety Division and Mr. Richard Gopen of Planners Collaborative (a Volpe Center contractor) received an award for the video titled "Bribery Awareness." Developed for the Office of Inspector General, this video demonstrates how to detect and prevent contract and grant fraud. The centerpiece for nationwide ethics training for all U.S. DOT employees, the video is also used to educate other federal, state, and local government officials, as well as contractors and grantees. The second award went to a series of training videos for the U.S. Army on using and maintaining a firefighting system that was recently installed on many of its ships -- the FM-200 Shipboard Firefighting System. Mr. Mark Gentile and Mr. Robert Pray, both of the Technology Applications and Deployment Division, and Mr. Gopen of Planners Collaborative contributed to the video production. Mr. Gentile and Mr. Pray also oversaw the design, installation, and training for the FM-200 system. |
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