Center News

The ASAP Center held its Third Annual Transportation Day at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering on Friday, November 4, 2016. More than 125 community members, researchers, and K-12 students enjoyed presentations and demonstrations related to the Safety and Mobility in the Community theme.

ASAP participated in the STEM Outreach for At-Risk Youth (SOAR) program at Florida State University. The SOAR program facilitates the involvement of undergraduate students in developing and implementing mentoring programs that expose underrepresented youth to science and technology.

Chiles High School student Vivian Zhou and Vika Bommineni, from Trinity Prep in Orlando, worked together with ASAP’s Dr. Eren Ozguven’s group as part of the Young Scholars Program (YSP) at the Florida State University (FSU).

A group of students and faculty from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, including affiliates of the ASAP Center, constructed a wheelchair ramp for a local senior citizen with mobility issues. The ‘Ramp It Up’ project was coordinated through the Ability1st Center for...

The Center for Advancing Transportation Leadership and Safety (ATLAS Center) at The University of Michigan (U-M) hosted the Safe Transportation & Aging Symposium on September 14 through15, 2016, at the North Campus Research Complex (NCRC) in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

On October 25, 2016, ASAP hosted a laboratory visit by some members of the FSU’s Women in Math, Science, and Engineering (WIMSE). WIMSE is a living-learning community (LLC) on campus that supports the growth and development of women in the STEM fields at the Florida State University (FSU).

Dr. Lily Elefteriadou,a Professor and Director, University of Florida Transportation Institute (UFTI) Engineering School for Sustainable Infrastructure and the Environment (ESSIE) University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, delivered a presentation as part of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar Series, also sponsored by the Center for Accessibility and Safety for an Aging Population (ASAP) and FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. Her presentation was titled "Driver Behavior and Characteristics and Their use in Traffic Modeling"

At the recent Annual Transportation Research Board (TRB) Meeting in Washington DC, Ms. Brittany S. Wood was honored as an Outstanding Student of the Year at a University Transportation Center (UTC) in the nation.

Dr. Essam Radwan,a Professor, College of Engineering and Computer Science, and the Executive Director, Center for Advanced Transportation Systems Simulation, at University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, delivered a presentation as part of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar Series, also sponsored by the Center for Accessibility and Safety for an Aging Population (ASAP) and FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. His presentation was titled "Dynamic Flashing Yellow Arrow: A New Left Turn Treatment."

The Center had organised a week-long event for the fall 2015 semester, with the theme: Transportation for a Lifetime!, from Monday September 14, 2015. The event was hosted by the Center for Accessibility and Safety for an Aging Population, together with FSU's Institute for Successful Longevity, and the Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy, as well as participation from Florida A&M University, University of North Florida, other agencies and organizations outside FSU, including the K-12 and the elder community.

Built around The Annual Transportation Day, which was held on Friday September 18, the activities that were organized included a Reception, Lectures, Career Fair, CarFit Training, Teens & Transportation Workshop, Aging & Mobility Symposium, Poster displays, Booths & Demonstrations. The week commenced with the ASAP Advisory Board Meeting on Saturday September 19. All events were open to the public.

An ASAP Researcher, Dr. Ozguven and his graduate students Mehmet Baran Ulak and Hidayet Ozel volunteered to sponsor two individual research projects (IRP) for the Young Scholars Program (YSP) at Florida State University. As a part of the program, two high school students were mentored for 6 weeks in order for them to learn a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) software named ArcGIS.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based maps and visualizations were used to evaluate the accessibility of the hospitals with cancer facilities with respect to cancer populations, supported with several case studies using the spatial and population characteristics and the Florida roadway network.

The Center Director, John Sobanjo, visited StarMetro, the city-owned and operated public bus service for Tallahassee, Florida. This agency is responsible for special transportation needs for the aging and disabled citizens in the city.

Dr. Sobanjo toured the StarMetro facilities and had discussions with the agency staff about potential areas of collaboration between the Center and the transportation agency.

As part of an ongoing ASAP research project titled "Biomechanics Models for an Aging Driver," ASAP hosted a seminar at the FSU's AeroPupolsion Mechatronics and Energy (AME) facility in the Conference Room 211 on May 26, 2015.

The speaker was David Poulard, Ph.D., a Research Associate at the University of Virginia's Center for Applied Biomechanics. The seminar was successful and well attended by faculty and graduate students from the Departments of Mechanical Engineering, and Civil and Environmental Engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.

One of our ASAP Researchers, Dr. Lisa Spainhour participated in an outreach event at a local high school. The event was the third in a series of Super Science Saturdays, sponsored by Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Florida.

In an effort to encourage more students to take science classes in high school and consider careers in science, engineering, & technology, Lincoln invites students from their feeder middle schools to learn about a science field, and compete against one another in a related event.

The Center participated in the University Transportation Center's (UTC) Conference for the Southeastern Region, hosted by University of Alabama at Birmingham and Mississippi State University. The event was held in Birmingham, Alabama.

One of our UTC Consortium members, Florida A&M University (FAMU), hosted the U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx at a town hall meeting held on the FAMU campus in Tallahassee, Florida.

The Secretary's visit was the first stop on his four-day, five state bus tour, The GROW AMERICA Express, to highlight the importance of investing in America's infrastructure and to encourage Congress to act on a long-term transportation bill.

The Center participated in the 4th Annual Florida Forum for Minority Institutions of Higher Education (MIHE): Partnering in Transportation. This event was held at Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Florida. The theme was "The Road Beyond: How MiHes Can Support a Strong Transportation Future."

The center was represented by John Sobanjo and Doreen Kobelo. Dr. Kobelo was one of the hostesses while Dr. Sobanjo made a formal presentation and was involved in a round table panel discussion.

Dr. Lily Elefteriadou,a Professor and Director, University of Florida Transportation Institute (UFTI) Engineering School for Sustainable Infrastructure and the Environment (ESSIE) University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, delivered a presentation as part of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar Series, also sponsored by the Center for Accessibility and Safety for an Aging Population (ASAP) and FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. Her presentation was titled "Driver Behavior and Characteristics and Their use in Traffic Modeling"

Hands-on training was conducted by the Vendor after the installation of the Driving Simulator at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. A similar simulator can be seen at http://www.drivesafety.com/products/8/18/RS-250 .

Our Center participated in the FHWA's State Planning and Research (SPR) National Review (Florida was one of 4 randomly chosen states). The meeting was hosted by Florida DOT and our Center at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. Present at this meeting were the three FHWA visitors (Shakira Crandol, Carl Mikyska, and Tom Byron), the FDOT staff (Gail Holley and Darryll Dockstader) as well as the Directors and Associate Directors of the Center (John Sobanjo, Neil Charness, and Mark Horner).

A recent roadway crash in Florida involving an aging passenger in paratransit bus resulted in minor injuries to the passenger while the bus driver had no injuries. The passenger compartment of the bus was proven to be safe. Compared to typical crashes, the reduced injuries in this case can be attributed to the improved design of paratransit buses based on the computational mechanics technology developed by researchers at the Center for the Accessibility and Safe Transportation for the Aging Population (ASAP).