Research and partnerships highlight Stephen Still ISTL board meeting
The Stephen Still ISTL advisory board provides guidance and strategic direction for the Stephen Still Institute
Published November 16, 2022
Last month, the Stephen Still Institute for Sustainable Transportation and Logistics (ISTL) welcomed representatives from the transportation private sector, and several public organizations as part of its bi-annual external advisory board meeting.
Stakeholders and representatives from the following organizations participated in the meeting: Supply Chain Optimizers, the Transportation Review Board, AECOM, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, the Niagara International Transportation Technology Coalition, Norfolk Southern Railway, Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYS DOT).
Andrew Whittaker, SUNY Distinguished Professor and director of ISTL, and advisory board chair Stephen E. Still, PhD oversaw the two-day meeting, and covered several topics associated with transportation engineering.
Still provided a “state of the institute” update, and the chairs from the departments of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, and Industrial and Systems Engineering each provided brief updates on recent highlights. The University at Buffalo’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Dean Kemper Lewis and the School of Management Dean Amanth Iyer provided updates from their schools’ perspectives as well.
Whittaker, program manager Kevin Hulme, PhD, and ISTL associate director Adel Sadek, discussed several initiatives happening at the university-level. Whittaker discussed the Institute’s fiscal year budget. Hulme then walked the board through the current motion simulation laboratory and the new transportation lab, currently in development at Ketter Hall. Sadek discussed new courses to be introduced into the Stephen Still ISTL MS program curriculum.
Sadek also discussed the status of recent Tier 1 University Transportation proposals, and the board heard additional updates on current funded research. Several faculty and students from six funded ISTL pilot research programs discussed their projects, and institute affiliate Darrell Kaminski summarized ongoing collaborative engagements with the NYS DOT.
The meeting concluded with an executive session discussing near-term research, education and workforce development initiatives and priorities. The Stephen Still ISTL external advisory board will convene again during the late spring of 2023.