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Volpe Technical Experts

Richard Wright, National Expert
Traffic and Information Management
Office of Demonstration and Deployment Programs

Dick Wright, who received a Master's degree from Tufts University, is the Volpe Center's national expert on Traffic Management and Information Systems. He has worked at the Volpe Center since its inception - indeed, he was on staff at the NASA Electronics Research Center when that facility, to become the Volpe Center, was transferred to U.S. DOT.

Mr. Wright is a consultant to the Volpe Center, U.S. 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. He 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. Current activities include:

• A study to review the state of Information Technology (IT) systems at Volpe, and recommend to Volpe management strategies and steps to improve IT organization, effectiveness, and efficiency.
• Analysis and concepts for the NextGen effort to develop and deploy advanced technology for the nation’s air traffic system,
• Review and analysis of advanced Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) systems technology in civilian applications,
• Investigation of techniques and data to account for transportation system effects in the spread of pandemic disease,
• Development of an Integrated Decision Management Systems (IDMS) to allow operational staff access to broad national and community data in dealing with issues of security, emergency management and traffic management,
• Review and implications of IDMS and Information Technology impacts in the operation, security and management of modern Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, and
• Development of traffic simulation and modeling in conjunction with advanced transportation networks such as advanced ATC and PRT architectures.

Previously, Mr. Wright, in cooperation with a NASA team, developed technology to allow NASA’s Center-TRACON Automation System (CTAS) to interoperate with FAA’s Enhanced Traffic Management System (ETMS). He was Chief of the Automation Application Division at the Volpe Center, a position he held from 1991 to 1998. The Division has primary responsibility for the ETMS, which the FAA uses for strategic air traffic control. Mr. Wright has worked in a wide variety of technical positions, including Vessel Traffic Systems (VTS) simulation and engineering and Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system design and simulation.