Our Mission Presentation

University Transportation Centers (UTC) Background

VISION
Internationally recognized centers of excellence, fully integrated within institutions of higher learning, that serve as a vital source of leaders who are prepared to meet the nation's need for safe, efficient and environmentally sound movement of people and goods.

MISSION
To advance U.S. technology and expertise in the many disciplines comprising transportation through the mechanisms of education, research and technology transfer at university-based centers of excellence.

1. Education: a multi disciplinary program of course work and experiential learning that reinforces the transportation theme of the Center.
2. Human Resources: an increased number of students, faculty and staff who are attracted to and substantively involved in tile undergraduate, graduate and professional programs of the Center.
3. Diversity: students, faculty and staff who reflect the growing diversity of the U.S. workforce and are substantively involved in the undergraduate, graduate and professional programs of the Center.
4. Research Selection: an objective process for selecting and reviewing research that balances multiple objectives of the program.
5. Research Performance: an ongoing program of basic and applied research, the products of which are judged by peers or other experts in the field to advance the body of knowledge in transportation.
6. Technology Transfer: availability of research results to potential users in a form that can be directly implemented, utilized or otherwise applied.

PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

A. EDUCATION

Education Goal: a multidisciplinary program of course work and experiential learning that reinforces the application of computer simulation to enhance transportation systems.

1.       Baseline Measures.  

A list of undergraduate and graduate courses offered by UCF and FSU which support the transportation curriculum and enrollment data for these courses compiled for academic year ‘97-’98 are provided in Appendix A.

2.      Education Program Outcome.

By the year 2004, a joint degree in transportation engineering and computer simulation will be offered in the UCF’s College of Engineering. Students who enroll in this program will be required to take courses in computer engineering, computer science and civil engineering-transportation. The degree offered under this program would be an MS Degree in Simulation in Transportation Systems. 

In addition, a certificate program with two transportation courses and two computer engineering courses will be established to serve the needs of transportation professionals.

3.      Planned Activities.

Integration of research and education is an important step to achieve the education goal of the center.  CATSS will bring together faculty, students and industrial partners from civil engineering, computer science and computer engineering, simulation and modeling, human factors, statistics, psychology etc, who have interests in different aspects of advanced transportation systems.  Students will be involved at all levels: high school, undergraduate, masters, and doctoral.

UCF has an honors program for bright and talented undergraduate students.  The Board of Regents recently approved Honors College at UCF.  The honors program provides top students an opportunity to register for honors courses with small class size, which are designed to challenge them beyond other offerings.  Participating faculty have previously taught multidisciplinary honors courses, and have directed honors in the major theses.  Honors seminar courses related to advanced transportation systems would be introduced at the junior and senior levels.  Students will be encouraged to work on theses on topics relevant to the transportation systems.

CATSS will develop stimulating introductions to heighten students’ interest in advanced transportation systems at the K-12 level and provide internship opportunities for selected high school students.  High school students in Florida have been involved in UCF research projects.  These activities will be pursued further with a focus on transportation systems simulation.

The future of our society will be shaped by the young and talented undergraduates studying at our colleges and universities.  Undergraduate students will be involved in research at the junior and senior levels.  UCF has ten years of experience of mentoring undergraduates through NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) national site.  Approximately one hundred undergraduates from a half dozen institutions in Florida have participated in this program.  The multidisciplinary nature of advanced transportation systems will be exploited to attract undergraduates from different department to participate in joint research projects.

Our multidisciplinary graduates from the departments of civil engineering, computer science, computer engineering, and statistics will be prepared for varied career demands of the future.  In today's dynamic global market, people have to change their careers several times in the time span of their adult lives.  CATSS will specifically address this issue, and provide our Ph.D. students background in different aspects of advanced transportation systems.  New courses at the graduate level will be introduced, which will be team-taught by faculty from different departments.  Also, faculty from different disciplines will serve on the Ph.D. committees of students supported by CATSS.  We will involve our industrial partners in teaching courses, and supervising of our graduate students.  We will also arrange summer internships for our students at nearby industry to get practical experience.

CATSS will choose one outstanding student of the year.  CATSS will award Student of the Year $1000 award plus the costs for this student to attend an award ceremony in Washington, DC, during the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB).

In summary, integration of research and education will be an important goal of the center.  The faculty, industrial partners, and students at all levels from different disciplines will be involved.  Special efforts will be made to involve women and minority students in various activities of the center.

The planned education activities at UCF for Academic Year ‘98-’99 is included in section 1 of Appendix A.

4.      Performance Indicators.  

The Office of Undergraduate Affairs in the COE compiles statistics for courses offered every semester, enrollment statistics, students’ programs of study, demographic information, financial information, and graduation dates. In addition, the CEE Department keeps on file inactive students’ information. The UCF Alumni Office compiles data on employers who hire our graduates.

B. HUMAN RESOURCES

Human Resources Goal: an increased number of students, faculty, and staff who are attracted to and substantively involved in the undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs of the center.

 1.      Baseline Measures.

The baseline measures for human resources activities at UCF are documented in section 2 of Appendix A for Academic year ‘97-’98.

 2.      Human Resources Program Outcome.

Currently, the CEE Department at UCF has three faculty members that are directly related to transportation engineering with seven more faculty that teach in other civil and environmental engineering disciplines and conduct research related to transportation. Furthermore, there are four other faculty in other engineering departments that have received funding to do research in transportation. It is envisioned that by the fourth year of this grant, two more faculty will be added to the CEE faculty and three more faculty will be attracted from engineering and none engineering departments to work in CATSS activities. The hiring of new faculty will require increasing the student enrollment, which can be achieved by offering new courses and attracting more students to the department. Attracting new faculty will involve awarding seed grants to those faculty who may have some interest in transportation and have had no success in receiving research funds.

There are around 400 undergraduate students enrolled in the CEE department, of which 250 are in civil and the remaining is in environmental. The civil program requires all students to take an introduction to transportation engineering course and two design electives from a group of five courses. One of the five technical electives is a transportation-related course. For a typical year, there is a total of around 100 students who are exposed to transportation topics in both courses. As for the environmental engineering program, none of the transportation courses are required, however there is around 10 students who enroll in transportation courses on an annual basis and use them as technical electives.

We have been successful in recruiting the bright students from the senior class to continue graduate studies in the transportation field. Part of the recruiting process involves hiring them on a part time basis on research projects, recruit them to become members of the ASCE, ITE and ASHE student chapters, and offer them scholarships sponsored by transportation and civil engineering firms. The Women Transportation Seminar, local chapter, for example, has awarded four scholarships to our students in the last two years. It is anticipated that more undergraduate students will be involved in transportation related projects, more top quality graduates students will be recruited to the transportation program, and more high school students will be pursued to eventually join the transportation program at UCF.

The Office of Graduate Studies at UCF coordinates and assists graduate students with fellowship opportunities. There are three types of fellowships handled by this office: UCF Graduate Fellowships, Minority Fellowships, and Fellowships for International Students.  Under the UCF Graduate Fellowships, there are four types of fellowships: Incentive Graduate Fellowship, Graduate Work Fellowship, UCF Undergraduate to Graduate Fellowship, and Graduate Enhancement Fellowship. All fellowships are awarded based on financial needs. The Graduate Fellowship for example requires the home department to provide half-time assistantship to the students (20 hours per week) with a full tuition waiver plus a stipend of $3250. This package can amount to $ 30,000 especially for out-of-state students. The College of Engineering offers two similar types of fellowships one of, which guarantees two fellowships per engineering department.

3.   Planned Activities.

We plan to step up current recruiting activities and start some new initiatives as follows:

a.   Continue to utilize the available scholarships offered by the COE, which are sponsored by individuals, professional societies, and consulting firms. Encourage Women Transportation Seminars (WTS) to continue its support to UCF, and build into CATSS future funding three scholarships that are solely dedicated to transportation.

b.   Continue to utilize the available “Fellowship Program” sponsored by the Office of Graduate Studies at UCF and the COE because they are used to attract top quality students to the graduate program from either the senior class of UCF or from outside UCF.  Grants provided by CATSS will enable faculty to take advantage of these fellowships to pursue graduate students.

c.   Encourage faculty advisors of the ITE, ASCE, ASHE, and other professional societies to recruit more students by holding social events, putting on a seminar series, and visiting local high schools.

d.   The CEE Department has recently approved seven certificate programs one of which is for transportation engineers. In this program, a student may complete four graduate courses and receive a certification from the Office of Graduate Studies. Admission to this program does not mean that the student is eligible to pursue a graduate degree, however it gives good students the opportunity to change their status and become graduate students after meeting the GRE and GPA minimum requirement. Similar certificate programs in the ECE Department at UCF provide expertise in Software Engineering.

The planned human resources activities at UCF for Academic Year ‘98-’99 is included in section 2 of Appendix A.

4.      Performance Indicators.

The Office of Graduate Affairs in the COE compiles statistics for active graduate students in terms of program of study, demographic information, financial information, and graduation date. In addition, the CEE Department keeps on file inactive graduate students’ information. The UCF Alumni Office compiles data on employers who hired our graduates. For the purpose of tracking graduates of the transportation program, we intend to design a special database maintained by the department which will contain all information needed to complete performance indicators 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d set forth by the UTC reporting requirements. Faculty advisors, and surveys distributed to students during their oral defense will serve as good source for this data.

C. DIVERSITY

Diversity Goal: The CATSS at UCF seeks students, faculty and staff who reflect the growing diversity of the US workforce and are substantially involved in the undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs of the center.

1.      Baseline Measures.

The UCF continues to place high priority on recruiting and graduating a diverse group of students who are qualified to meet the profession’s needs.  The baseline measures for diversity activities are documented in section 3 of Appendix A for Academic year ‘97-’98.

2.      Diversity Program Outcome. 

The University of Central Florida has recently completed a Comprehensive Strategic Planning Process to prepare for the new millennium.  The UCF President, Dr. John Hitt, has focussed the outcome of this process as 5 key Goals for the University.  These goals are:

1.       Offer the best undergraduate education available in Florida.

2.       Achieve International prominence in key programs of graduate study and research.

3.       Provide an International Focus to our Curriculum and research Programs.

4.       Become more inclusive and diverse

5.       Be America’s Leading Partnership University.

We believe item 4 speaks for itself.  The University recruits faculty, staff, and students with the promise of equal opportunity for all.  The CATSS programs will follow existing University policies in seeking and encouraging qualified applicants of all races, creeds, color, and gender to join us.

3.      Planned Activities.

The CATSS and UCF will recruit qualified faculty, staff, and students through existing University procedures designed to fully incorporated equal opportunity provisions in all such procedures.  Job availability will be in appropriate national publications and minority publications.

The planned diversity activities at UCF for Academic Year ‘98-’99 is included in section 3 of Appendix A.

4.      Performance Indicators.

At the University of Central Florida, statistics on graduates receiving both transportation-related advanced degrees and for all students receiving advanced degrees are prepared annually by the office of Institutional Research. The processed data is available on various University on-line web access sites and is thus available on a timely basis for yearly maintaining and reporting tasks.

D. RESEARCH SELECTION

Research Selection Goal: CATSS at UCF will provide an objective process for selecting and reviewing research that balances multiple objectives of the program.

1.      Baseline Measure for Research Selection. 

The baseline measures for research selection activities are documented in section 4 of Appendix A for Academic year ‘97-’98.

2.      Research Selection Program Outcome. 

CATSS affiliates will be given equality of opportunity in submitting research proposals for review by the CATSS advisory board Technical committee.  A panel of transportation professionals from both local state level organizations will evaluate all proposals.  Proposals must be oriented to addressing research issues pertinent to multi-modal surface transportation. Awards will be reviewed on the basis of relevance of proposed research to CATSS mission; technical merit, research design, and qualifications to perform the research.

3.      Planned Activities.

The proposed CATSS Advisory Board is comprised of the Individuals depicted in the table in Appendix A.

The CATSS Technical Advisory Board will issue an annual RFP call to interested parties. This group will evaluate all proposals received in accordance with the goals of II.D.2 above. These goals are consistent with the DOT Strategic Plan and the NSTC Transportation Science and Technology Strategy.

The planned research selection activities at UCF for Academic Year ‘98-’99 is included in section 4 of Appendix A.

4.      Performance Indicators. 

The Office of Sponsor Research monitors proposal submittal and research selection on regular basis and produce a monthly report for distribution to all units at UCF. The CATSS will be included as one of the units to receive this information.

E. RESEARCH PERFORMANCE.

Research Performance Goal: an ongoing program of basic and applied research, the products of which are judged by peers or other experts in the field to advance the body of knowledge in transportation.

1.      Baseline Measures. 

Transportation research performance at UCF for academic year ‘97-’98 is provided in Appendix A. 

2.      Research Performance Program Outcome. 

By the year 2004, CATSS is envisioned to be the designated center that will provide cutting edge research and development in the field of surface transportation simulation in the US.

3.      Planned Activities. 

The following describes the major activities that CATSS will undertake to bring about the research program outcome.

a.      Human-Centered Systems and the UCF Driving Simulator (UCFDS):

Currently, UCFDS represents the most visible component of UCF’s CATSS research effort.  We will use the UCFDS as a testbed for prototyping the following enhancements necessary for CATSS:

1.       Modularizing the software to allow incorporation of algorithms from other members of the CATSS team.  We envision experimenting with different vehicle models as well as non-visual environment models such as sound and environment (including road surface).

2.       Upgrading the computational system with more powerful PC’s running Windows NT.

3.       Incorporating emerging PC graphics systems, image capture, reconfigurable displays and accompanying data sets for displaying out of vehicle scenes.

4.       Modifying the hardware system to allow addition of a motion system, modular force feedback system, and replaceable cab (with a standardized interface suite).

5.       Provisions for networking with other simulators, CATSS team members, or state DOTs.

6.       Provisions for introducing realistic multi-modal transportation systems.

b.      Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS):

UCF has conducted several research studies to evaluate the benefits of ITS deployment in this area.  For example, TPModel and TPSIM are two computer simulation models, which UCF developed to evaluate operational and air quality benefits of electronic toll collection.  CATSS will validate these two computer simulation models with extensive field data. The UCFDS will be used to drive through toll plazas and study the impact of toll roads design changes on driver’s behavior. The UCFDS will be used to drive through toll plazas and study the impact of toll roads design changes on driver’s behavior.  Furthermore, UCF simulated traffic conditions on Interstate 4 in Orlando under incident and recurring congestion conditions.  FREQ, a model developed by the University of California at Berkeley, was used in this simulation effort.  Currently, UCF is using FREQ to simulate and calibrate toll roads in Orlando. 

Presently, the UCF Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Lab has an on-line connection with the Florida Department of Transportation’s Freeway Management Center (FMC) in Orlando.  Live traffic data (volume, speed, and occupancy), collected from magnetic loop detectors on I-4, are downloaded to the ITS lab every 30 seconds on a continuous basis. The UCF ITS lab serves as a testbed for on-line testing of incident detection algorithms.  Also, UCF has developed a traffic prediction model for I-4’s changeable message signs.  CATSS research will develop on-line simulation and prediction of I-4 traffic conditions.  As more loop detectors and camera systems are planned for arterials and city streets in Orlando, it is envisioned that CATSS’s research will make it feasible to predict traffic in the Orlando transportation network, therefore making a valuable enhancement to traffic information in this area. 

Planning for an efficient and productive freight transportation network in Florida is another CATSS activity, which is underway.  This will be achieved through development and testing of freight simulation models.  Presently, UCF has two FDOT research projects to conduct freight modeling at Florida ports.  One of them, which is a two-year contract, has just started.

The Florida Department of Transportation has awarded two contracts to Drs. Mohamed Abdel-Aty and Essam Radwan to study crash statistics in terms of drivers’ demographics and road characteristics. The researchers produced maps using Geographic Information Systems which contained crash rates by age,  income groups, and gender for all counties in Florida. Also included in this research is an assessment of crashes at intersections in terms of rates and identification of high accident locations. We plan to include in CATSS future research the concept of using modeling and simulation coupled with visualization to reconstruct conditions leading to these crashes. We are aware of existing software that the Society of Automotive Engineers support which are used to duplicate the crash scene and we believe that we can interface this software with the UCF Driving Simulator.     

CATSS also plans to seek research related to airport growth and efficient movement of passengers from the airport to their ultimate destination.  We will use Orlando International Airport for the core of this effort and solicit support for studies related to light rail, high speed rail, and surface modes (bus, rental vehicle, etc.) between the airport and tourist destinations,  Orlando, other cities, and Port Canaveral. 

The planned research performance activities at UCF for Academic Year ‘98-’99 is included in section 5 of Appendix A.

4.      Performance Indicators.

The UCF requires all faculty to submit an annual report which contains all information related to publications, presentations, research activities, and other scholarly initiatives. This report is due the first week of May. We will use the data documented in these reports to track research performance for the CATSS.

F. TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

Technology Transfer Goal: availability of research results to potential users in a form that can be directly implemented, utilized, or otherwise applied.

 1.      Baseline Measures.

Technology transfer is a strong asset of the NHMFL and the CATSS plans to draw from the Lab experiences. The NHMFL developed several education programs and engaged more students in integrated research and learning experiences. All of these programs—whether designed for K-12, technical, undergraduate, graduate, or postdoctoral—are developed through close consultation and guidance from the scientists, engineers, and technicians who develop and conduct research at the laboratory, including the visiting scientific community.

The baseline measures for technology transfer activities are documented in section 6 of Appendix A for Academic year ‘97-’98. 

2.      Technology Transfer Program Outcome

CATSS envisions several tangible outcomes after four years of effort resulting from this grant.  Anticipated outcomes include;

1. A group of functioning laboratories where interested parties can visit and see transportation research in process.

2. A variety of internet based services including a web page with pointers to reports, data, and other transportation related sites; a periodic newsletter; a resource repository providing search services; and a reflector providing interactions between parties interested in transportation issues.

3. A regular series of conferences, seminars, and courses where CATSS and related transportation matters can be discussed.

4. Collaboration with industry in joint research projects and licensing arrangements.

5. Growth in the number of students studying, conducting research, and applying technology to transportation related issues.

6. Outreach to other institutions attracting students to study transportation related topics.

3.      Planned Activities

Overarching specific technology transfer activities will require an infrastructure consisting of the following items.

1. Internet Based Services;

2. Laboratories open to interested individuals and groups;

3. Advisory Board 

The UCF offers a variety of Internet based services to sponsors.  On-going capabilities include web site development and maintenance, document posting, data base search tools and services, course development and delivery and, interactive reflectors.  A functioning and modern laboratory serves as a vital gathering point for students, visitors, and colleagues.  Technology transfer is one of the by-products of a laboratory because visitors can see the manifestation and develop CATSS research programs.  The abstract becomes reality in the laboratory.   UCF has several existing laboratories spread over the campus where CATSS activities will occur.  Included are laboratories in the College of Engineering and the Institute for Simulation and Training.  An active Advisory Board is another means of technology transfer.  Members of the Advisory Board will review and influence CATSS activity.

Internet services will also be brought on line in the first year.  The CATSS team will create a web page, web letter, and interactive reflector.   Services will be provided for links to other transportation centers.  CATSS will to provide integrated Internet services for all DoT Centers.  These facilities will grow to meet the needs of various CATSS constituencies (i.e., researchers, advisory board members, students, and general public).

We anticipate that a laboratory provides a key focus for research, education, and service activities.  The components of the laboratory already exist within the College of Engineering and the Institute for Simulation and Training.   Research and prototyping will occur in both the COE and IST, but be integrated in the College of Engineering’s Driver Simulator laboratory. The Driver Simulator laboratory contains an automobile simulator testbed.  This simulator testbed will be enhanced through specific research tasks discussed elsewhere in this strategic plan.

The Intelligent Transportation Systems’ Laboratory, part of the CEE Department, houses most of the research projects managed by the Transportation Systems Institute.  Incident detection studies on I-4, Traffic crash data on Florida highways, computer simulation models developed for the Orlando Orange County Expressway Authority, and Freight transportation movements around the Port of Miami are some examples of available models and databases that could be used in technology transfer activities. The ITS Laboratory also maintain the most recent releases of traffic software like FREQ, CORSIM, TEAPAC, TRANSYT-7F, PASSER, SIGNAL 94, and HCS. Dr. Radwan has used these programs, over the last 10 years, as part of a signal timing technique workshop.

The Institute for Simulation and Training’s laboratories are oriented to research related to distributed simulation, graphics, virtual reality (human computer interactions), and computer generated players.  These laboratories study technologies relevant to CATSS.  Their specific research efforts oriented to CATSS will provide short-term capabilities integrated into the Driver Simulator laboratory that results in a relatively immediate capability for conducting a variety of studies.

An advisory board has been created, and it is composed of decision-makers and technical experts in transportation related fields.  The decision-makers will advise the CATSS Director on Center strategic planning matters.  Technical experts will review research efforts of the CATSS team.

Technology transfer will be implemented through a variety of means at the CATSS.  Variety is essential as different receivers of technology might be set up to obtain information more efficiently using a particular scheme and the CATSS research efforts will produce a variety of products.  We envision using the following methods to implementing technology transfer;

1. Publications and presentations;

2. Students (researchers, entering the work force and co-ops);

3. Seminars, workshops, short courses;

4. Collaboration;

5. Licensing

Each CATSS research effort will consider and develop definitive methods for facilitating technology transfer.  The normal course of CATSS research efforts would seem to indicate that as research efforts progress chronologically from basic research to more applied efforts, that technology transfer would be accommodated chronologically through the steps noted above.  Fundamental research work normally results in publications in peer review journals.  This form of technology transfer feeds the intellectual engines of colleagues and students.  Students participate in fundamental research through work and advanced degree research.  They enter the work force with knowledge of CATSS activities, which are then applied, to meeting societies needs across a broad front.  When fundamental research issues are resolved courses are offered which offer another means for technology transfer.  In the case of CATSS, we envision our work resulting in incorporation of activities into a wide variety of engineering, computer science, psychology, and business courses.  CATSS laboratories would be co-mingled with research and laboratory activity.  As results of research becoming known collaborations with others results.  Applied research activities from CATSS results in products suitable for licensing.

It is important to realize that technology transfer activities become more visible and immediate as activities move from basic to applied research. For example, basic research work can take several years to result in journal articles, while product licensing is a shorter-term activity.  CATSS technology transfer, therefore, will track the research cycle.

An issue which must be addressed for effective technology transfer is, “How do third parties know what technology exists and where the technology is located?”  We will address this aspect of technology transfer through an associates network.  The CATSS Advisory Board will consist of individuals who will review and advise CATSS on research activities.  We are hopeful this group will be proactive in identifying opportunities for technology transfer.  A ‘second tier’ group of interested parties will also be identified by CATSS team members.  This second tier will form a network of associates who look at CATSS’ activities with emphasis on transferring technology through one of the means identified, above.  The associates will get information on CATSS research work, but will not have a direct feedback mechanism to influence that research, except through separate contractual arrangements.

Technology transfer will also occur through outreach activity.  We anticipate outreach taking several forms.  First, CATSS will attempt to organize and host a conference every two years.  The departments involved in CATSS have experience soliciting papers and organizing conferences.  Examples include Behavioral Representation, Low Cost Computer Graphics, Distributed Interactive Simulation, and Intelligent Transportation System Applications Conferences.  These conferences cover a wide range of audiences and scope (from 50 to over 1500 people).  Faculty will also visit local high schools and junior colleges to acquaint students with interesting opportunities in the field of transportation.  Faculty will visit advisory board members organizations and discuss our work. 

Faculty will perform technology transfer through development and delivery of short courses in areas pertinent to CATSS.  Short course topics will be chosen through consultation with our Advisory Board or through adaptation of existing credit courses.  The “Timing Traffic Signals Using Software” workshop organized and offered by UCF, for example, can be expanded to include new software and case studies from the Orlando Metropolitan Area. Courses will be delivered through dedicated short courses delivered at a training site (e.g., UCF), typically over the summer and through the web.  UCF has a state of the art capability for creating and delivering instruction over the web.  UCF has the infrastructure to assist faculty in creating courses that are delivered through the web.  Professionals or traditional students can then take a course without having to come to the university.  UCF is reaching in excess of 5000 students using web-based courses.

The planned technology transfer activities at UCF for Academic Year ‘98-’99 is included in section 6 of Appendix A.

4.      Performance Indicators

Performance indicators will be assessed quantitatively.  Visitors’ logs will be maintained in our labs.  Web sites will contain data on visitors.  Reflectors will maintain lists of individuals registered to each reflector.  Quantitative data, such as that discussed, above, will be reviewed monthly. Quantitative measures are useful, but often delivered without context.  Qualitative measures, therefore, will also be used.  Feedback will be sought from our advisory board and utilized in adjusting the direction of CATSS.  Rating forms from faculty visits to remote sites and course feedback will also be compiled.

MANAGEMENT APPROACH

A. Institutional Resources

Currently, the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department primarily handles transportation research and education activities at UCF. This department is one of five departments that comprise the College of Engineering at UCF. Within the CEE Department, the Transportation System Institute (TSI) is directed by Dr. Haitham Al-Deek. The TSI has been focused on attracting and promoting transportation research from local and state agencies in Florida. Drs. Chris Bauer and Harold Klee, faculty in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, have served as Co-Pis on multi-year sponsored project to upgrade the UCF Driving Simulator. Joint research activities have been limited to few departments around campus such as Statistics, and Computer Science. It is our long-term goal to attract more faculty from other units just to name few: Economics, Public Administration, Psychology, Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering, and Industrial Engineering and Management Systems. The Institute for Simulation and Training (IST), the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), and the Center for Applied Human Factors in Aviation (CAHFA) are also targeted as valuable partners.

To streamline the management of research funding, educational and technology transfer initiatives at UCF, we will submit an application to the Florida State Legislators and the Florida Board of regents requesting that CATSS be designated as Type I Center within the Florida University System. This will provide us with recognition among our peers and may possibly lead to a line item in the state budget. The next step will be to merge the TSI within CATSS and pool our resources to reach our goals.

CATSS will build on current expertise of its research institutes (IST) and the simulation industry and government experience that resides in Central Florida. This combination of Government, Academia and the simulation Industry makes up the National Center for Simulation (NCS). IST has had a superb record with defense in modeling, simulation, and training and CATSS will take advantage of this great opportunity on campus to build a strong partnership with all players in the simulation arena.

There are ten (10) faculty members in the CEE Department that receive support from state and local agencies related to transportation and their disciplines cover traffic operations, safety, and planning, bridges, storm water management, air-pollution, and noise-pollution. In the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, three of their faculty have directed research related to transportation simulation and the use of spread spectrum communications for ITS applications. Faculty in the CEE Department have had a long history of joint research activities with faculty in the Statistics Department. Over the last ten years, there were five faculty who served on M.S. and Ph.D. committees of engineering students and took active role in funded research projects. Last but not least, one faculty member in the Public Administration Department has offered a course on public policy issues as it relates to transportation and directed projects sponsored by the local expressway authority.

Currently, there is an ITS laboratory that occupies 500 square feet. This lab houses several personal computers and workstations, transportation library, and equipment needed for data collection like traffic counters and camcorders. There are also four offices available to graduate students totaling 450 square feet, which brings the total available space to 950 square feet. These numbers do not include faculty office, TSI director’s office, and CATSS director’s office. The UCF Driving Simulator currently resides in a lab that has 1000 square feet.

The College of Engineering has completed detailed plans to build the second building of the engineering complex. The architecture has been selected and we expect to break ground in July 1999 with the goal of occupying the building by December 2000. The CEE Department will move to this new facility and a new lab with high bay will be dedicated in this building for the UCF Driving Simulator. Space set aside for transportation in this building include: 1200 square feet for the simulator lab, 190 square feet for TSI director, 340 square feet for CATSS director and administrative assistant, and 1200 square feet for ITS laboratory and library. This represents a 50% increase in space.

The Division of Continuing Education at UCF handles technology transfer workshops and other transportation related programs. This division is housed in the UCF Research Park with sufficient classroom space to host meeting and educational programs. The division also sponsor continuing education programs at other sites like the Orlando Downtown Center, the UCF South Orlando Center, the UCF Daytona Beach Campus, and the UCF Brevard Campus. The new engineering building will provide state-of-the-art computing labs that may be used for transportation workshops.

The Institute for Simulation and Training has several laboratories and facilities that contribute to the objectives of CATS.  Included are the following;

• Distributed Simulation Laboratory: This laboratory conducts research in developing understanding and infrastructure to connect simulators.  Techniques cover a variety of application domains and computational architectures.  Networking research is also conducted in this laboratory.  This laboratory will be useful in investigating schemes to integrate CATS with other transportation simulators.

• Computer Generated Players Laboratory: This laboratory conducts research in modeling human behavior, human/vehicle behavior, and group behavior.  Research covers modeling techniques, architectures, and interfacing mechanisms.  This laboratory will be useful to CATS in providing an operational setting for transportation studies (e.g., populating the environment with other vehicles).

• Visual Systems Laboratory: This laboratory conducts research in terrain databases, graphics development environment, and emerging graphics architectures. Physical modeling, and dynamic environments.  This laboratory will be useful to CATS in providing techniques to ensure correlated visual models, development of databases, animations, and prototyping emerging graphics systems. 

• Human Computer Interactions: This laboratory configures unique tools for humans to interact with computer.  Its primary focus is on Virtual Reality and displays.  This laboratory will be useful to CATS in providing conceptual approaches for operators and observers of CATS experiments.

• Information Technology: This group creates and provides Internet and web services tailored to the needs of specific user groups.  Services are currently provided to a wide range of users.  This group will be useful in creating web pages and managing the receipt and dissemination of CATS reports, data, course notes, etc.

• Performance Technology: This group creates short courses and instructional materials tailored to the specific needs of the user.  This group will be useful to CATS by working with faculty to create and deliver short courses in using simulation in transportation related topics.  This group has trained thousands of individuals in simulation topics.

B. Center Director

CATSS director is responsible for implementing the Center’s Strategic Plan and ensuring compliance with all other UTC Program requirements. Included in his/her position the following responsibilities:

1.       Develop a Strategic Plan, and update the plan periodically.

2.       Establish an Advisory Board to assist with steering the center in the right direction.

3.       Solicit ideas and proposal from faculty to pursue educational and research initiatives.

4.       Award grants to faculty and monitors their performance.

5.       Review grant reports and prepare the center’s annual report.

6.       Market the center and pursue partnerships with different agencies. 

The development of the CATSS strategic planning involved four faculty from UCF. In addition to the director, Dr. Haitham Al-Deek from Civil and Environmental Engineering, Dr. Chris Bauer from Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mr. Brian Goldiez from Institute for Simulation and Training took active participation in drafting this document. We also received input from other faculty and outside professionals. We intend to visit the plan on an annual basis and involve the CATSS Advisory Board in this assessment process.

In the process of forming the CATSS Advisory Board, we contacted local agencies, state agencies, engineering consultants, and industry to insure good representations on the board. We formed two committees within the board, a steering committee and a technical committee. The steering committee will provide the center with ideas, new directions, and possible leads for funding sources. It is anticipated that this group will meet once or twice every year. The technical committee will assist the director with the ranking process of the submitted proposals. A tentative list of the board is provided in Appendix B.

Upon receiving approval from RSPA regarding this Strategic Plan, we will announce the request for proposals to the whole university community encouraging them to submit request for grants to pursue activities related to education, research, and technology transfer. A draft of the “CATSS Call for Proposals” is provided in Appendix C.

The director will have the responsibility of monitoring the budget. The administrative assistant will provide support for budget planning and monitoring of spending. The Office of Sponsored research will be called on if needed to assist with the financial affairs of CATSS. It is also expected that the director will prepare and submit the annual report to RSPA using the new guidelines distributed in the July 14, 1998 meeting at the DOT offices in Washington, D.C. The director will participate in the two annual meetings held by DOT with the directors of all the University Transportation Centers. One of the major responsibilities of the director is to market the center. There are several strategies that the director may use to reach this goal. Some of these strategies include active participation in technical meetings, organizing and hosting seminars and conferences, participation in the CUTC activities, visitation to industry and government agencies, and participation in middle and high school math and science projects. The Florida Engineering Society has been active with the “Math Counts” program in Florida, which has been proven successful in reaching out to attract bright students from middle and high school to enroll in engineering curriculum. One of the investigators on the project, Dr. Chris Bauer, is serving as State President of the Florida Engineering Society for 1998-1999 and he pledges the society cooperation in promoting the CATSS.

C. CATSS Faculty and Staff

Dr. Essam Radwan serves as CATSS director. The duties and responsibilities of the director are documented in the above section (III.B). The director will spend 40% of his time towards the center activities in the first year. It is expected that in future years, as the center grows in size and funding, this percentage my reach or even exceed 50%. Dr. Chris Bauer will serve as the Associate Director for the UCF Driving Simulator Program and Dr. Haitham Al-Deek will serve as Associate Director for the ITS Program.

Ms. Kathryn Strickland will serve as the center’s administrative assistant. She will dedicate 50% of her time for CATSS activities. Her duties will include assisting the director with scheduling meetings, preparing documents and correspondence and budget planning and updating.

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