Issue link: http://uwashington.uberflip.com/i/600834
Letter from the Director With your great support and care, PacTrans continuously made solid progress over the past year toward its goal of being Region 10's research engine, applied technology showcase, workforce development base, educational leader, information center, and collaboration platform. We had a very busy past year because of the parallel operations of both the Region 10 University Transportation Centers funded by SAFETY-LU and MAP-21. Through carefully planning and implementing activities to address the needs of both centers, PacTrans is gradually transitioning from a general center addressing regional needs in all five strategic directions of the US Department of Transportation to a safety-focused Region 10 transportation center. Highlights of our major activities in the 2014-2015 fiscal year are as follows: To build strong partnerships with transportation safety agencies and companies in Region 10, PacTrans took several key actions. The first one was to organize the Region 10 Transportation Safety Workshop in collaboration with chapters of Institute of Transportation Engineers in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. Over 70 transportation safety professionals from all four states in Region 10 participated in this one- day workshop. PacTrans also hosted several bilateral exchange events with transportation safety agencies, such as Washington Traffic Safety Commission, to enhance mutual understanding and seek collaboration opportunities. PacTrans enhanced its regional leadership by organizing several important events including the Region 10 Transportation Conference, Region 10 Student Conference, Region 10 Reception at the TRB annual conference, and Region 10 Transportation Seminars and Webinars. All these events were very well attended. For example, more than 170 people participated in the Region 10 Transportation Conference. Our regional transportation seminars cover a variety of important topics, including workforce development leadership cultivation, innovation training, etc. Hundreds of people attended these seminar events collectively. All of the 31 research projects funded in the 2013–2014 fiscal year were completed. Also, 19 new safety research projects have been selected to receive funding for 2014–2016. After completion of the first two years of research projects, PacTrans allocated funds to support technology transfer activities. Five projects have been selected from the Call for Success Stories and will receive funds to facilitate the tech transfer process. Furthermore, consistent efforts and funding were made to support students. In addition to the continued support to PacTrans fellow students and student outreach activities, funds were allocated for student intern and travel support. For example, more than 40 students received travel support from PacTrans to attend the 2015 Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting and PacTrans researchers delivered approximately 100 technical presentations at the conference. A lot more exciting activities can be found in this PacTrans Annual Report. We hope this report is informative and useful to both internal and external readers and serve as the bridge to bring in more collaboration with local partners. We welcome any suggestions or feedback you may have on our work and highly appreciate your continued support! Sincerely yours, Yinhai Wang, PhD, Professor DIRECTOR OF PACTRANS 1 2014-2015 Annual Report