Letter from the Director

Letter from the Director

Photograph of Henry Liu and the Michigan Traffic Lab team in front of their Level 4 autonomous vehicle. From left to right: Shengyin Shen, Xintao Yan, Dr. Henry Liu, Dr. Shuo Feng, and Haojie ZhuWelcome to the Center for Connected and Automated Transportation (CCAT), USDOT’s Region 5 University Transportation Center (UTC). CCAT is a partnership between the University of Michigan, the University of Akron, Central State University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, Purdue University, Washtenaw Community College, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. CCAT has been named the UTC for focused research on connected and automated transportation, as designated by USDOT’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology. Being located in southeast Michigan gives CCAT the ability to collaborate with leaders in transportation and mobility research. Our position also gives us access to some of the best facilities and resources in the world including the Ann Arbor Connected Environment (AACE), Mcity, and the American Center for Mobility (ACM), among others.

CCAT hosts a variety of events to engage the public and private sectors in discussions. Our annual Global Symposium hosts leaders from around the world to discuss topics including safety testing of autonomous vehicles, accessibility, and Smart Cities. Our Distinguished Lecture Series curates thought leaders from academia, government, and industry to present on topics including ridesharing, the future of public transit, and more. Our Research Review gives us an opportunity to highlight exceptional research projects funded by CCAT.

Our researchers’ projects focus on four main thrusts including Safety, Cybersecurity, Mobility, and Equity. Through these, CCAT hopes to achieve our mission of significantly impacting the evolution of the U.S. next-generation transportation systems with emerging technologies on safety, mobility, and sustainability. In addition, we aim to provide national and regional leadership for connected and automated transportation research, science, education, training, and deployment.

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