News and Events

By Ines Aviles-Spadoni, M.S., M.A., Research/Communications Coordinator This is the DATASPEED vehicle that Dr. Wang and his research team will be using to test sensors. Autonomous vehicles (AVs) use a range of sensors to understand and navigate their environment. They use cameras and other technologies to detect the positions and distances of nearby vehicles, pedestrians, animals and ...

By Ines Aviles-Spadoni, M.S., M.A., Research/Communications Coordinator Duanya Lyu, doctoral student at UF How can a city run a better and more reliable transit service that people feel comfortable using? That is the question at the center of Duanya Lyu’s doctoral research in transportation engineering at the University of Florida. “At UF, all of my research centers around ...

By Ines Aviles-Spadoni, M.S., M.A., Research/Communications Coordinator Wei Sun, Ph.D., CEO, AIWaysion Transportation research is most meaningful when it leads to solutions that benefit society.  For Wei Sun, that mindset, further reinforced during graduate school, has shaped much of his career. “The best solution is not necessarily the most complex or sophisticated one,” he said. “It is the ...

By Ines Aviles-Spadoni, M.S., M.A., Research/Communications Coordinator, UFTI The 2026 UFITE Traffic Bowl Team: From left: Kyle Groome, Michael Panarisi, and Hugo Resendez The UF Institute of Transportation Engineers (UFITE) student chapter has won the Florida Puerto Rico ITE (FLPRITE) District Traffic Bowl competition once again, marking an exciting eight-year consecutive winning streak that speaks to the ...

By Ines Aviles-Spadoni, M.S., M.A., Research/Communications Coordinator, UFTI Miguel Lugo From a small town in southwestern Puerto Rico to supporting the contracting and partnering of engineering and architectural firms with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Miguel Lugo, a UF alumnus, has carved out a path focused on transportation and public service. “Transportation infrastructure is vital to our ...

By Ines Aviles-Spadoni, M.S., M.A., Research/Communications Coordinator, UFTI Industry networking and collaborative events, internship panels and general body meetings, leadership development workshops and student socials – these are just a few of the many ways that UF’s WTS Gator Student Chapter is preparing students to succeed outside of the classroom.  Rebecca Peche “I believe our continued success has ...

By Albraa Rajkhan, doctoral candidate, UF Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Image credit: AI-generated image provided by Albraa Rajkhan Most new cars today are equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and many drivers rely on them every day. But not understanding how this technology works has become a growing safety concern. A new research project is ...

Learning from the Past to Finance Transit in the Future Martin Wachs, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of California The COVID pandemic made the financial fragility of America’s public transit systems obvious, though most of the financial challenges facing transit existed prior to the recent emergency. Services desperately needed by some communities were difficult to provide ...