Every year, Volpe staff come together for Volpe Day, an annual event that gives staff the opportunity to showcase exciting projects to their colleagues and learn from one another, all in the spirit of solving complex transportation problems for the public good.

Volpe Day gives staff an internal forum to highlight their work through presentations, demonstrations, and question-and-answer sessions. This year’s Volpe Day followed an “unconference format,” following the success of last year’s debut. The unconference format gives staff the opportunity to shape and lead the day’s content, providing their own suggested topics that showcase the diverse and complex work happening at Volpe.

“Volpe Day is a tremendous opportunity for staff to sample the diversity of Volpe’s technology portfolio and to share their own work and ideas with their colleagues,” said Volpe Director Anne Aylward. “It provides a window into the rich variety of Volpe’s multimodal and multidisciplinary interests and projects.”

Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology Gregory Winfree visited Volpe’s Cambridge, Massachusetts, campus to kick off the day’s events and participate in some of the sessions and tours.

Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology Gregory Winfree (right-center) joined a rooftop tour of Volpe. (Volpe photo)

Among the day’s events, staff learned how automated vehicles can make space that’s currently dedicated to automobiles available for re-use, how social justice can be incorporated into any project, and how gamification can incentivize learning and foster change.

Some staff demonstrated their work in a formal presentation format, while others opened up to participants for discussion and creative problem solving.

Speaking at the “Potential Applications of Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing at Volpe” session, operations research analyst Alex Linthicum said that the ability of computers to learn without being explicitly programmed is “not the future—this is here, now.” Linthicum’s audience brainstormed on machine learning, and the conversation evolved into discussing scenarios where artificial intelligence could be applied at Volpe or used to develop applications for sponsors.

Hands-On Demonstrations

After wrapping up the problem-solving sessions, Volpe staff had the opportunity to take a more hands-on approach to what Volpe offers through tours and demonstrations.

Staff visited the Human Factors Lab, getting the unique opportunity to experience the various in-house simulators, including the Boeing-737, locomotive, and driving simulators, and learn about the latest in ignition interlocking devices.

Staff also visited the Instrumented Research Vehicle Lab to learn about how Volpe translates car-following data into understanding driver behavior.

The Maritime Safety and Security Information System Lab was opened up to demonstrate the Volpe-developed near-real-time network that is used to track vessels as they navigate the world’s waterways.

In addition, staff had the chance to learn from the National Airspace System upgrade project about how Volpe has influenced safety and travel efficiency.

The day also featured a barbeque lunch and rooftop tour.

Volpe Day 2016 was a success. It reinforced the collaborative and innovative spirit of Volpe and highlighted the wealth of knowledge that staff bring to Volpe every day.