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Emerging Issues in Transportation Seminars Offered

Posted: Feb 23, 2016

The Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute is hosting two emerging issues seminars to mark the beginning of a collaborative educational agreement between NDSU and the University of Modern Sciences - Dubai.  Under the agreement, NDSU will conduct research and provide instruction to UMS students in the areas of transportation and logistics and emergency management.  The seminars are free and open to the public.

Threats to Transportation Operations and Facilities Posed by Terrorist Organizations

1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 29
Prairie Room, NDSU Memorial Union.

Jarret Brachman, Ph.D., Global Threat Intelligence Manger for Wells Fargo and Transportation Security Lecturer for NDSU Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute

On February 3, 2016, a mid-air explosion ripped a hole through the fuselage of a Daaloo Airlines flight departing from Mogadishu International Airport. Investigators identified the cause as an improvised explosive device that had been concealed within a laptop computer. The makeshift bomb had been smuggled through airport security by two airport workers and handed to a passenger who detonated the device just before the cabin had been pressurized. In October 2015, an explosive device reportedly concealed within a soda can brought down Russia's Metrojet Flight 9268, killing all 224 people on board. The bomb was believed to have been smuggled through security by airport workers.   

The aviation sector continues to be a preferred target for terrorist groups such as Al-Qaida, Al-Shabaab and Daesh (also known as the Islamic State or ISIS). Dr. Jarret Brachman, a specialist on global security threats to transportation, will provide an in-depth look at these incidents and provide insight into the security implications for the global transportation industry.

Next Generation Intelligent Transportation Systems for Smart Cities

1:30-2:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 1
Badlands Room, NDSU Memorial Union

Raj Bridgelall, Program Director for the Center for Surface Mobility Applications & Real-time Simulation environments (SMARTSe) - a program of NDSU's Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute.

The rapid pace of technological advancements has led to the convergence of mobile information technology and transportation solutions. Governments worldwide are focusing immense resources toward understanding how technology will impact future transportation solutions, travel behaviors, and land use. Connected vehicles, automated vehicles, cloud computing, big data science, and machine intelligence are emerging as new tools to address the growing challenges of congestion, crash elimination, security, energy efficiency, and environmental health. Therefore, tomorrow's workforce must learn to accommodate technological advancements and develop skills for applying the new tools to address transportation challenges at all levels and modes. This presentation will provide an overview of key technology trends that are steadily transforming our transportation system. The presenter will provide a sample of research needs that will expose the complexities and interdependencies between transportation supply, transportation demand, performance measures, and policy making.