By Ines Aviles-Spadoni, M.S., Research Coordinator, UFTI
On November 19, the UFTI hosted its Industry Partnership Program meeting at the I-STREET Living Lab, celebrating collaboration and innovation in transportation technology by unveiling the Wall of Industry Partners and launching the I-STREET Innovator Webinar Series.
The meeting brought together leaders from some of the most well-known companies in the transportation industry, which included Keith Jackson, associate vice president at Dewberry; Acey Roberts, associate vice president of transportation systems management and operations at Iteris; Leonard Becker, senior vice president of the West Florida office at HNTB; and Lisa Nisenson, vice president at WGI. Together, the partners and UFTI representatives presented updates on ongoing projects and initiatives, reinforcing their commitment to advancing transportation innovation.
UFTI representatives in attendance included Pruthvi Manjunatha, research assistant professor and I-STREET manager; Kyle Riding, professor and chair of the UF Department of Civil Engineering and interim director of the UFTI; and Lily Elefteriadou, professor of civil engineering and former director of the UFTI. Manjunatha led the partnership meeting, facilitating the discussion among the partnership, also known as the Industry Council.
“Bringing leaders from well-known transportation firms ensures research at UFTI aligns with industry needs and is very important in connecting innovative research with uses in the real world,” Manjunatha said. “The I-STREET Innovator Webinar Series further emphasizes our mission to provide a unique ecosystem for the collaboration, research, testing, and market delivery of innovative mobility and safety solutions that scale to urban and rural regions worldwide.”
I-STREET stands for Implementing Solutions from Transportation Research and Evaluation of Emerging Technologies. It is a research platform and living lab on the UF campus and surrounding road network designed to accelerate the development and adoption of new transportation technologies. It was founded in 2017 through a collaboration among the UFTI, the Florida Department of Transportation, and the City of Gainesville.
Justin Dennis, co-founder and chief operating officer of UrbanSDK, joined via Zoom to host the I-STREET Innovator Webinar Series, launched as part of the Industry Partnership meeting, to spotlight technologies developed by emerging companies. The series featured pitches by representatives of three startups – AIWaysion, Hextronics, and Kiwibot – followed by a Q&A with the industry partners.
“If you’re an innovator building something new in a regulated government market, I-STREET is a sandbox for you to test and deploy your technology alongside academic partners to help you validate use cases and publicize your technology’s validity and impact to prospective investors, channel partners, and end customers,” Dennis said.
Graduate students also showcased their I-STREET-related research at the meeting. Mohammadreza Mirzaei, Mohaddese Salehian, and Mukundhan Narasimhan presented research posters on a pedestrian-bicycle-connected vehicle pilot, autonomous shuttles and transit service, and connected and automated truck platoons. Members of the WTS Florida Gator student chapter, which included Sara Garces, Kayla Eusebio, and Eliana Duarte, also attended to network with the IPP and support their peers.
For more information on the Industry Partnership Program, visit https://istreet.ce.ufl.edu/work-with-us/industry-council/.
Below are additional images from the event.
