December 17, 2024 • 41 mins
Administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the University Transportation Centers Program provides grants to college and university consortia across America. With an emphasis on innovating transportation technologies, educating the next generation of transportation professionals, and transferring technology to share lessons learned, the program leverages the best academic talent at U.S. institutions of higher learning to solve mobility and safety problems that affect all Americans. Dr. Melissa Tooley, TTI assistant agency director for federal affairs and UTC operations, discusses TTI's history with the program and looks forward to future opportunities.
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Episode Transcript
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Allan Rutter (00:14):
Hey everyone.
Welcome to ThinkingTransportation--conversations
about how we get ourselves andthe stuff we need from one
place to another. I'm AllanRutter with the Texas A&M
Transportation Institute.
Research has always been partof TTI's DNA from our
beginning, nearly 75 years ago.
In 1950, the Texas A&M CollegeSystem Board of Regents created
(00:36):
TTI as a state agency to dohighway research for and on
behalf of the state of Texasand the State Highway
Department. We've also beenpart of research funded through
the University TransportationCenter Program, or UTCs, from
the program's creation by theU. S. Congress in 1987. Today
we're gonna talk about how TTIis involved in many different
(00:59):
UTCs and what is beingaccomplished through them.
We're joined by Dr. MelissaTooley , TTI's assistant agency
director for federal affairsand UTC operations who, in
addition to having a PhD incivil engineering, is also a
licensed professional engineer. She's been with TTI for about
18 years. Melissa, welcome.
Melissa Tooley (01:19):
Thank you, Allan. I'm so happy to be here.
Allan Rutter (01:22):
We're gonna talk in more detail about the
University TransportationCenter programs at US DOT, but
I thought I'd monologue alittle bit about how UTCs fit
into the overall researchportfolio within the U. S.
Department of Transportation.
The way I look at it after myexperience--and I'm gonna ask,
Melissa, you to correct me--Isee three big buckets of U.S.
DOT-related research (01:44):
the agency research at the DOT,
Modal AdministrationsCooperative Research Programs,
and UTCs. First off, within theU.S. DOT, the Office of
Secretary of Research andTechnology coordinates research
conducted by individual modaladministrations, and they do
that through contracts andresearch centers. And the
(02:07):
office also administers anumber of research programs of
its own, like the VolpeTransportation Center, the
Intelligent TransportationSystems Joint Program Office,
and the new Advanced ResearchProjects Agency Infrastructure,
or ARPA-I. Now, ModalAdministrations are also
involved in cooperativeresearch programs administered
(02:28):
by the Transportation ResearchBoard of the National
Academies. The oldest of theseis the National Cooperative
Highway Research Program, orNCHRP, in which the Federal
Highway Administration worksalongside state DOTs through
their association to developand administer an annual set of
research projects. Now, theFederal Aviation
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Administration, NationalHighway Traffic Safety
Administration, and FederalTransit Administration are also
involved in cooperativeresearch programs for aviation
behavioral transportation,safety, and transit. TTI has
performed many researchprojects under these programs.
And finally, there are theUniversity Transportation
Centers, also administered bythe OST Research Office. Now,
(03:14):
what else would you add to thatoverview of transportation
research involving U.S. DOT?
Melissa Tooley (03:21):
Yeah, there are a few things I would add to
that, Allan. First of all,Congress does sometimes specify
research projects and studiesin the authorization bills. For
example, in the IIJA, Congressauthorized studies and research
projects on topics likedisaster relief mobilization,
(03:41):
air-quality improvements,permeable pavements, stormwater
management... It's kind of avast array of projects that
Congress had interest in. Andsome of those will be done
within U.S. DOT. And some ofthose will be farmed out to
universities and researchinstitutes. And then second,
you mentioned ARPA-I--thatoffice is facing some
(04:03):
challenges. That program wasauthorized in the IIJA, and
there was an amount funded toset up and operate the office.
The problem is they haven't hadany funds appropriated to
actually fund their researchand programs. And I think it's
noteworthy that there's a groupof UTCs that are actively
(04:24):
supporting efforts to supportthe research efforts of of
ARPA-I. So, I think there's alot of industry support for
funding that. So we'll see ifthat comes to pass. And then
one of the other things thatit's important to point out
that differentiates the UTCProgram from a lot of the
other, like cooperativeresearch programs and things
that you mentioned, is that inthose other programs, the
(04:48):
research problems are alreadydefined . And they go out for
proposals from universities andresearch institutes to address
problems that are alreadydefined for the UTC Program.
Once that center selects afocus area, they are able to
not only address researchproblems, they're able to
(05:10):
actually define what thoseproblems are. So it enables
UTCs to provide thoughtleadership as we move forward
through our transportationchallenges. And that's one of
the things that makes the UTCProgram unique.
Allan Rutter (05:23):
Well, that's a great point, and segues into a
conversation we'll have in alittle bit about how University
Transportation Centers actuallydo their work. Mm-hmm
. And Iappreciate you helping our
listeners understand thedistinction between
appropriators and authorizers.
Uh , , they don'talways see eye to eye .
Melissa Tooley (05:41):
Yeah, I think it's really kind of a common
thing that just becausesomething is in an
authorization bill doesn't meanthat it's automatically going
to happen. There have to befunds appropriated for all of
the items in the bill. And Ithink a lot of people may or
may not get that distinction.
Allan Rutter (05:59):
But speaking of authorizations , I understand
that UTCs were first created byCongress in 1987 in that year's
service transportationauthorization. What were UTCs
first conceived to do?
Melissa Tooley (06:16):
You know, when the authorization bill in 1987
set up the UTC Program, it wasoriginally conceived as just a
research program foruniversities, specifically in
10 different regions around thecountry. So, there was a
regional UTC for every one of10 regions, and they were gonna
focus on research. And thoseregional centers were all
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determined by competition. Sothe program was originally
conceived as a fullycompetitive regional UTC
Program. When ISTEA passed in1991, the focus of the program
was expanded to includeeducation and technology
transfer. And over time, theUTC Program now has kind of an
(07:02):
equal emphasis on research,education, and workforce
development and technologytransfer and commercialization.
So that's one of the thingsthat kind of makes it unique in
that some research programs,the output of that research is
the ultimate goal of theresearch project. With the UTCs
technology transfer is prettymuch baked into the program
(07:23):
from the beginning. Theresearch outputs that we
produce from the UTC Programhave to be translated into
practice, and we focus on thatfrom the very beginning of our
research endeavors. The otherthing that we do is focus on
education and workforcedevelopment. And that's one of
the great benefits ofuniversity-based research is
that we're able to bring thateducation focus through the
(07:46):
students that we work with. Andwe also have a number of other
programs in place that helpwith education and workforce
development as well.
Allan Rutter (07:54):
So , generally speaking, how do UTCs come
together? How are they puttogether? Who...is there some
sort of fantasy draft? I mean,how do these guys go about
doing their thing?
Melissa Tooley (08:08):
Well, it's kind of like matchmaking, to be
perfectly honest. You know, inthe beginning, UTCs could be
either single institutions orconsortia. We are now required
to be a consortium to competefor a UTC grant. When we have a
competition in place, or whenwe have an authorization bill
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that's about to be passed,typically universities will
start reaching out to theircolleagues across the country
to talk about partnering onUTCs. I know at TTI, we started
well before the IIJA passed. Infact, we typically start well
before an authorization billpasses to reach out to our
(08:51):
colleagues and start formingteams to compete across the
various tiers. Also, we'llreach out to look for
opportunities to partner too ,because some universities, for
whatever reason, aren't in aposition or don't want to lead
a consortium. They'll startreaching out, looking to join
other people's proposals. Andwe do a lot of that at TTI, and
(09:14):
we've been very, verysuccessful in doing that over
the years.
Allan Rutter (09:18):
You mentioned in passing the tiers that part of
what Congress has done overtime, in addition to those
regional transportationcenters, there's national tiers
and then Tier 1 kinds ofthings. What's the distinction
between those descriptors orlabels or buckets?
Melissa Tooley (09:36):
Yeah, over the evolution of the program,
there's been several differenttier structures, but it seems
to have kind of settled intothe three tiers that you
described . The national tier,it's funded at $4 million a
year , and there are five UTCsthat are selected in that tier.
The purpose of the nationaltier is to provide thought
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leadership on one of thosestatutory focus areas that the
IIJA laid out. Now there areseven of those, and there's
only five national centers. Sothose centers are expected to
be kind of like, you know, theflagship bearer for that
particular priority area. Andit is the most well-funded
(10:20):
tier. The second tier is theregional tier. It has been
competitive since day one. It'sfunded at $3 million a year.
And again, there are 10 ofthose regions around the
country. And then there are 20Tier 1 centers that are funded
at $2 million a year. Theyprovide a couple of different
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opportunities. One is they cando kind of a deep dive into a
specific topic. Like, forexample, TTI--our Tier 1 that
we lead focuses on, you know,the nexus of transportation and
public health, which is a veryfocused topic within the
transportation enterprise. So,for a larger university, we're
(11:06):
able to really dive into thattopic through tier one. Another
cool thing about Tier 1 is thata smaller university that may
not be as competitive in theregional tier; the national
tier can be competitive in Tier1. So, Tier 1 gives
universities of all sizesopportunities to compete and be
successful within the program.
Allan Rutter (11:28):
So, one of the things you mentioned was that
while the 10 regional centershave always been competitive,
Congress in its practice orwisdom, depending on whether
there's earmarks or not, hassometimes specified what the
Tier 1 centers are. But moreoften than not, or at least the
last couple of iterations, havebeen fully competitive. How
does that affect how TTI goesabout reaching out to folks?
(11:51):
How do we compete in a fullycompetitive environment as
opposed to trying to do ourwork through the appropriations
earmarking?
Melissa Tooley (11:59):
Well, first of all, we stopped seeking
earmarks for one thing whenearmarking went away and the
program went fully competitive.
To be honest, it didn't reallychange the way that we
approached the competitions.
The regional centers havealways been competitive. And
TTI did lead one of theoriginal regional centers. In
fact, the SWUTC center was inoperation until 2016. So every
(12:23):
time there was areauthorization bill, TTI
competed to keep that grant.
And so that matchmaking processwent on every single year. The
most recent competition thatSWUTC was successful in--we had
added two additionaluniversities in Louisiana to
the consortium. So, thatconsortium continued to kind of
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grow and evolve with thesubsequent bills. When the
SWTUC center ended, we had anearmarked center that was put
into the bill for SAFETEA-LU,which passed. It was one of the
authorization bills where SWUTCcompeted and was successful.
And we had the earmark centerthat became the University
Transportation Center forMobility, which is what I was
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brought to TTI to set up andoperate for the Institute.
Since then, when the programwent completely competitive
with MAP -21 and the FAST Act,we went through this
matchmaking process every timewe were in a competition
mode--the same process that Idescribed earlier--and have
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been very successful. Of the 11UTCs that TTI has been a part
of, 10 were selected bycompetition. Only one was
earmarked and that was UTCM andthe Safety Law bill .
Allan Rutter (13:43):
Wow. So, clearly through either experience or
repetition or having a goodapproach, that good approach
has been met with some success.
Let's talk a little bit abouthow UTCs function before we get
into the specific UTCs TTIleads or belongs to. These
guys, they're selected formultiple years. How do the UTCs
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decide which research projectsto pursue?
Melissa Tooley (14:08):
Well, you know, the authorization bills
designate statutory researchpriorities within the bill. For
example, in the IIJA, therewere seven, as I mentioned
earlier. Those pertain tomobility, safety, congestion
reduction, environment,cybersecurity. And then there
(14:28):
are two related toinfrastructure. One focuses a
little bit more oninfrastructure resilience, and
the other is moreinfrastructure durability. So ,
it's more hard sciencepavements and materials,
geotechnical-type things . So,those are the seven areas. Now,
the UTCs and their competitionproposals will select one of
those to, kind of, guide theirresearch and programs . So
(14:52):
their whole program; like,let's say that they've selected
infrastructure durability astheir focus area. Their entire
program will rotate aroundinfrastructure durability. So,
when they're writing theirproposal, in order to give the
selection committees an idea ofthe type of work that their
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consortium can do--thecontribution that they can make
to the state of the practice inthat area--a lot of times they
will typically prescribe thefirst year or even two years of
their research and programfunding within the proposal.
So, they'll have a wholeprogram of education research
and tech transfer that'sfocused on infrastructure
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durability for that third yearor second year, depending on
how much of their fundingthey've prescribed in the
proposal. Typically, they'll goout with a call for proposals
from the researchers at theuniversities within the
consortium, who will thenprovide research ideas to the
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steering committee for thatUTC. They will go out and get
feedback from their stakeholdergroups and select research
programs from that movingforward. And they'll typically
do that on a yearly basis allthe way through the end of the
grant. Now, there's a couple ofother models that people use.
There are some UTCs that have amore focused group of
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researchers that they will goout to specifically, you know,
rather than do like kind of abroad call. That can be a very
successful model for some UTCs.
And then I actually know of aUTC a couple of competitions
back that actually designatedtheir entire program. They had
a small number of projects thatwere envisioned to evolve over
(16:43):
the lifetime of the grant. Sothey basically had these maybe
five or six projects with afive- or six-year research plan
for each one of 'em . And thatI thought was an interesting
model. At the end of the day,it didn't work out, but I
thought it was really aninteresting idea. However, the
model that I described earlierwhere you prescribe a couple of
(17:03):
years, and then go out forcalls, is really the way that
TTI has always operated. Theones that we lead and the ones
that we are involved in operatethe same way.
Allan Rutter (17:14):
Well, again, that sounds like, as you mentioned,
it helps the folks at OSTRunderstand what it is that
we're intending to do. Mm-hmm . And it's met
with some success, so why arguewith it? And what you're
describing is that for a UTCmember institution, these
research projects through theUTC pretty much function like
(17:36):
any other sort of sponsoredresearch, this is what we're
gonna do. The UTC is basicallythe sponsor to the researcher.
Melissa Tooley (17:43):
Right, absolutely. And those projects
function exactly like theywould from any other research
sponsor. The only differenceis, you know, the research
sponsor is right there withinTTI. But yes, we require a
project plan, guidelines,milestones, you know, Gantt
charts. I mean, everything thatyou would normally have to do
for say a TxDOT project orNCHRP, you have to do for a UTC
(18:07):
project as well. And we'rerequired to report on that to
U.S. DOT on a regular basis aswell. So, you know, we ask for
this information from our PIsbecause we know that DOT is
gonna ask us for thatinformation as part of our
report requirements.
Allan Rutter (18:25):
Which makes perfect sense. Let's talk a
little bit about the mostrecent round of UTC selections.
First, TTI was involved in oneof those five national centers
you mentioned that wasselected. What is that center?
Who's leading it and what aresome of the things about it
that make it special?
Melissa Tooley (18:43):
Well, that center, the National Center for
Infrastructure Transformationor NCIT, as we call it, is led
by Prairie View A&M Universityunder the leadership of Dr.
Judy Perkins, who is a Regentsprofessor in The Texas A&M
University System. The partnersfor NCIT are TTI, our sister
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agency, TEES, is also apartner. Our other partners are
the Blinn College District,Rutgers University, Michigan
State University, and ArizonaState University. So, we have a
lot of geographical diversitywithin that consortium, which
you typically see in a nationalcenter, right? If it's a
national center, you're notgonna want it to all be
concentrated in one area of thecountry. So we've got
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universities in the north ,south , east , and west for
NCIT that is a very specialcenter in that it provides a
unique opportunity for severalentities within the Texas A&M
System to partner together.
Those being again, Prairie View, TTI, and TEES to work
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together on this nationalcenter under Prairie View's
leadership. But there's acouple other things that make
that center very special. Firstof all, before the IIJA
competition, there had neverbeen a national UTC selected
from the heartland. They allwere in coastal states on the
East or West Coast. So we feltlike that was a pretty big gap.
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I mean, after all the years ofthe program, they had never
selected a competition, anational center anywhere but on
the coast. In this competition,there were actually two both in
Texas, one of which is atPrairie View. So we were glad
to see that heartland hole getfilled in this competition, and
the heartland of the countryhas transportation challenges,
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just like the coasts do. Andreally some unique challenges,
too. So we were glad to see aninfrastructure focused national
center be located in theheartland so we could address
the needs of rural America aswell as urban America. The
other thing that makes thiscenter really special is that
it is the first competitivelyawarded national center that's
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ever been named at an HBCU orminority-serving institution,
too . So we are very, veryexcited about that. And under
Dr. Perkins's visionaryleadership, we've already
accomplished some prettyamazing things here within our
first two years.
Allan Rutter (21:21):
You're helping Dr. Perkins in part of that
administration of the UTC. Whatare some of the highlights of
early accomplishments of theNCIT center?
Melissa Tooley (21:31):
Yeah, it's that I serve as deputy director
under Dr. Perkins, who is ourdirector. And we just completed
a virtual colloquium just inthe last few weeks that had 150
unique participants. We had 51speakers who presented the
status of their researchprojects. We talked about our
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education and workforcedevelopment projects, and the
PIs on those also spoke. Wealso talked about our
transportation technologytransfer efforts. So it was a
three day event. Verysuccessful. We were just
thrilled. Secretary Buttigiegdid the opening statement via
video. So, it was a triumph. Wewere very excited with the
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success of that event andtechnology transfer at its
finest. So it gave ourresearchers a chance to kind of
interact with each other. Wedid a virtual reception, you
know , we've got a call forproposals out right now. So it
gave them a chance to kind ofmix and mingle and seek
opportunities to collaborate.
And I know of several projectsthat are being developed for
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our internal problem statementcompetition right now that are
a direct result of theconnections made at the
colloquium. So it functionexactly like we intended it to
in our proposal. Anotherprogram that we have is the
Highway Construction WorkforcePartnership that was developed
in partnership with the TexasAsphalt Pavement Association
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and the heavy highway industryin Texas to develop a training
program for disadvantaged youthwhere they will come out with a
certificate that will enablethem to get a job in the heavy
highway industry. They get thebasics of math like they'll
need to use for estimating andthings like that, but they
actually get to operateequipment and lay pavement on a
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road, which we've built out atthe RELLIS campus, and that
they're slowly paving over timeevery time we do one of these
sessions. We've graduated 16students already, almost all of
whom are now actively workingin the heavy highway
construction industry, eitherat a construction company or at
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TxDOT. So we're really excitedabout that program and where it
may go. We're also looking intoperhaps expanding that program
to veterans in addition todisadvantaged or
underrepresented groups. Wehave 18 research projects
ongoing at NCIT. We also, as aconsortium, competed for and
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won the U.S. DOT AdvancedBridge Technology
Clearinghouse. That proposalwent out under Rutgers'
leadership, and all of ourpartners are participating in
that project. Gosh, I mean,there's so much. We hosted a
reception at TRB last year.
We're gonna do another one thisyear along with a student
poster event that we're gonnado before the reception to give
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our students some exposure andgive them an opportunity to do
more presentations. So, we'regiving our students
opportunities to do a lot ofthings and get themselves out
in front of their peers and PIsfrom other institutions. And
right now, you know, I thinkone of the things that I didn't
talk about earlier is thatcongressional support is very
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important for the UTCs becauseit is a congressionally
directed program and that it isin the authorization bills. We
are working on an NCITnewsletter right now that is
focused to a congressionalaudience to let them know, Hey,
here's what we've been doingwith this grant money for this
program that you put in thebill. And we think that's
(25:08):
really exciting. In fact, thisis something new that we're
trying at NCIT. We have threenewsletters a year. One is
focused to our academiccolleagues, one is focused to
our stakeholders in industry,and the third is directed
toward a congressionalaudience. So that's another
really cool thing that we'vedone with newsletters, but
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that'll give you some idea ofsome of the things we've done.
Allan Rutter (25:31):
Well, certainly one of the things that'll, I
hope, be clearly communicatedthrough that
congressional-orientednewsletter is the breadth of
activity that's going on shouldmake them feel pretty good
about this part of theinfrastructure bill that we put
in.
Melissa Tooley (25:46):
Yeah, absolutely. We're really
excited about it.
Allan Rutter (25:50):
Now we're also part of one of those 10
regional UTCs. Mm-hmm . I think it's
the Southern PlainsTransportation Center? Yes .
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat and how you and Dr.
Puppala are involved in that?
Melissa Tooley (26:05):
Yeah. That center is led out of the
University of Oklahoma. It is areally big consortium that
includes universities in everystate in our region. And those
states are Oklahoma, Arkansas,Louisiana, Texas, and New
Mexico. That center focuses oninfrastructure as well,
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specifically climate change andhow it is impacting
infrastructure. Dr . Puppalaand I serve as associate
directors for that center. Irepresent TTI and he represents
the TEES side . We work veryclosely together. I might also
add that Dr. Puppala is anassociate director for the NCIT
center as well. So he and Iworked together on that center
(26:46):
also. But this particularcenter has done quite a bit of
research on resilience andclimate impacts in the region.
TTI's contribution has to dowith how port facilities are
gonna be impacted by climatechange and resiliency for port
facilities. So we're veryexcited about that consortium
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as well.
Allan Rutter (27:11):
TTI through the university as lead agency for
one of those 20 Tier 1 UTCs.
Mm-hmm . Yes .
You had mentioned that earlierin a conversation. Tell us a
little more about what theCenter for Advancing Research
in Transportation, Emissions,Energy and Health, CARTEEH, is
and its members.
Melissa Tooley (27:32):
Yes. CARTEEH has won in two consecutive
competitions. It is the Tier 1center that is our marquee UTC
for TTI. The consortiumconsists of TTI, Georgia Tech,
and Johns Hopkins. It was thefirst time that a medical
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research institution had beenincluded in the UTC Program.
This past competition, theyadded the Morehouse School of
Medicine, which is a medicalschool that is also an HBCU.
They also added North DakotaState to get that tribal
element into their research.
And UC-Riverside--sorry, that'sthe University of California at
(28:16):
Riverside--and The Universityof Texas-El Paso. So it's a
very broad consortium for aTier 1. I mean, includes really
all along the southern borderand all the way back up through
North Dakota and into the eastand back down. So they've got a
lot of geographic and topicdiversity within that
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consortium. They started outreally doing mostly
transportation emissions andhow they impact public health,
but over time have reallybranched out more into
transportation impacts on airquality of the electrification
of the vehicle fleet and someof the challenges involved. So
that center has grown andevolved over time, and I think
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in a very positive andcompetitive way. Very well-run
center, very impactfulresearch.
Allan Rutter (29:06):
And finally, let's talk a little bit about
other Tier 1 UTCs that involveTTI: Maritime Transportation
Research and Education, and theUniversity Transportation
Center for Railway Safety. Whois TTI involved with in those
and what kinds of stuff arethey doing?
Melissa Tooley (29:22):
Yeah, sure.
MarTREC, which is the MaritimeTransportation Research and
Education Center, is headlinedat the University of Arkansas.
The other partners in thatcenter are Jackson State
University, Louisiana StateUniversity, the University of
New Orleans, of course, TexasA&M/TTI, and Vanderbilt
(29:47):
University. And if you look atthe members of that consortium,
they are really uniquelypositioned to focus on maritime
transportation. This is a verygood example of the matchmaking
process that we go through.
There's quite a few portfacilities within the state of
Arkansas that go into theMississippi and then go south
to New Orleans. So they do alot of maritime logistics
(30:12):
research. They do a lot of portresilience research. They've
been around for threecompetitions. And they had been
competitive successfully oncealready. And we were not a part
of that consortium originally.
And then when the FAST Actcompetition came up, I
contacted a colleague at theUniversity of Arkansas and
(30:34):
said, Hey, you guys are doingsome great stuff. We've got
some people that could really,I think bring value to your
program. Would you beinterested in perhaps adding us
to your consortium? And shechecked with her consortium
members and they all agreedthat that would make their
proposal more competitive thesecond time around. And we were
(30:54):
indeed successful in thatcompetition. And we've been a
part of that consortium eversince.
Allan Rutter (30:59):
Of course, that maritime center deals with both
inland waterways and portfacilities on the coast.
Melissa Tooley (31:04):
Yes, it does, because the University of New
Orleans does a lot of coastalport facility research. They
also do a lot of education andworkforce development, like,
for barge captains and thingslike that. So it's a really
kind of unique program withinthe UTCs.
Allan Rutter (31:20):
And the final one I mentioned has to do with
railway safety, which as atrain boy , I'm very excited
about.
Melissa Tooley (31:26):
. Right,
exactly. And we're excited
about that one, too. It's ledout of The University of Texas,
Rio Grande Valley, or UT-RGV,as we call it for short. And
then the partners are TexasA&M, TTI, and the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln. And thatparticular center focuses on
three different things (31:47):
railway mechanical systems, which
essentially is just, you know,better mechanical components
for better performance ofrailways; railway operation
systems, which includes thingslike railway crossing safety,
railway operations safety; andthen railway infrastructure
systems, which is things likenew and more durable materials
(32:11):
and systems, safetyassessments, and advanced
technology for monitoringrailway infrastructure. But
also, Allan, I want to pointout that one of the big things
about competition is that itactually provides more
opportunity for TTI thanearmarking did because we have
the opportunity to not onlycompete for a lead, we can also
(32:32):
be a part of all these otherteams, which is why after that
FAST Act competition, afterthings went completely
competitive, we were a part offour UTCs, one of which we led.
And then after the most recentcompetition we were , we ended
up being a part of five, onethat we lead and four that
we're partnered on. So one ofthe things that Agency Director
(32:53):
Winfrey wanted to do was take amore systematic approach to how
we manage our UTCs. So. We puttogether a UTC management
office within TTI to manage theadministrative part of our UTC
involvement. And what that doesis free our PIs to do what they
(33:13):
do best, which is research,education, and technology
transfer, and let our officedeal with things like the match
requirements, the reportrequirements, managing our
relationships with the leadsfor our various UTCs. And we
feel like this kind ofsystematic approach, this
institutional office thatsupports our UTC activities, is
(33:36):
gonna position us really wellfor the next competition.
Allan Rutter (33:40):
You've been involved in UTCs for quite a
while, both as a UTC directorand at the administration
level, helping coordinateproposals, working with other
institutions through theCouncil of University
Transportation Centers, andthen helping connect UTC
research to otherorganizations. What are some of
the biggest shifts and changesin the UTC program that you've
(34:05):
seen in that involvement?
Melissa Tooley (34:07):
You know, it seems that every time an
authorization bill passes, thepriorities of Congress might
change slightly. Consequently,the focus areas, the selection
criteria and the prioritiesmight change with every new
bill. For example, the IIJAbrought a new priority area.
Cybersecurity was new in thislast bill. So things do change
(34:33):
slightly according to thepriorities of the committees of
jurisdiction for theauthorization bill. But I've
always said, although the lensmay change from which, you
know, we view transportationissues, transportation problems
really don't, we're alwaysgonna need safe, reliable, and
efficient ways to move peopleand freight, but there may just
(34:57):
be more or less emphasis oncertain issues as to how we get
there.
Allan Rutter (35:03):
And one of the things in talking about the
NCIT center that got you reallyexcited is some of the
accomplishments that thatcenter is doing. What are some
of the other bigaccomplishments you've seen as
part of UTCs that you've been apart of with TTI?
Melissa Tooley (35:17):
You know, there's been a number of
programs at TTI that wereinitially either seated with
UTC funds or were significantlyenhanced by UTC funding. Just a
few that come tomind--obviously our activities
in electrification, ouractivities in connected and
(35:38):
automated vehicles, TSMO, whichis transportation systems
management and operations. Iknow actually that whole field
was pretty much seated at TTIwith UTC funding, alternative
financing. As you know, theHighway Trust Fund is not
sustainable. So we startedlooking at alternative
financing years ago with theUTCM grant, maritime
(36:00):
transportation and ports,innovative materials for
pavements and bridges, and allthe other physical
infrastructure that we need inthis country. Hurricane
evacuation technologies ...
some of the benefits are a lotmore subtle. For example, the
ability of TTI to buildexpertise on emerging issues. I
(36:22):
talked a little bit earlierabout the fact that the UTC
Program gives us theopportunity to define the
issues as well as address them. This provides one way that
TTI can provide thoughtleadership and have that
thought leadership be funded bya consistent source. That
benefit is one of the greatestbenefits of the program itself.
(36:42):
On the education side, we'vehad a summer internship program
that's been sponsored by ourUTCs for 10 years, and six of
our UTCs over the last 10 yearshave participated in that
program; 93 students havecompleted that program over the
last 10 years. And 17 of thoseresearchers stayed on with TTI
(37:03):
after the program as studentresearchers, or even
transitioned to full-time rolesat TTI. I know of at least two
or three people that stayed onas student researchers and then
stayed on as full-time TTIemployees after being a part of
our student internship program.
And then SWUTC, our regionalcenter that I talked about
(37:24):
earlier, that grant alonesupported almost 1,300 students
over the life of that grant,95% of whom entered the
transportation profession. Thishas had immeasurable impact on
the transportation professionas a whole, because all of
those people went out intopractice. That's a lot of
people. And you go to meetingslike TRB and an awful lot of
(37:48):
those people have either workedat or been touched by TTI in
some way. And that's just oneof our UTCs and its impact. And
then technology transfer, youknow, again, it's a
three-legged stool. CARTEEHspun off a technology company
from the results of one oftheir research projects that's
been very, very successful. Wecommercialized a hurricane
(38:11):
evacuation technology that wedeveloped with UTC support
funds. I mean, who knows whatinteresting and cool things
we're gonna develop with ournew UTC grant? And I think the
sky's the limit in what we canaccomplish in the years to come
.
Allan Rutter (38:26):
One of the things that's pretty clear for both
what you've been able todescribe and the passion with
which you're able to do it, isthat, you know, we as Texans
are really fortunate that yourexpertise and experience has
been applied in so manysuccessful UTCs that have
involved TTI. I can tell fromthat enthusiasm that you've got
a real passion for this. Whatare some of the other reasons
(38:47):
you're excited to show up forwork every day ?
Melissa Tooley (38:50):
Well,
thank you. Honestly,
professionally speaking, whatmotivates me to go to the
office every day is theopportunity to provide
resources for other people todo what they do. I mean, TTI
has breadth depth in virtuallyevery area at the
transportation enterprise. Wehave researchers who are the
(39:13):
very best at what they do. Imean, it's absolutely mind
blowing the depth of expertisewe have at this institution.
They just need the resources todo it. And in my mind, there's
no better way to provide thoseresources than the UTC program
because not only do they havethe opportunity to address
transportation issues, theyhave the ability to define
(39:37):
those transportation issues aswell. And I'm beyond blessed to
be a part of TTI's five newUTCs. Honestly, this is the
best job ever.
Allan Rutter (39:47):
Well, I'm happy that you're doing it both as
somebody who's been able to bea recipient of those resource
connections and to be able towork with you . So Melissa,
thanks for joining us today.
Melissa Tooley (39:58):
Thank you. I appreciate the invitation,
Allan.
Allan Rutter (40:02):
In the early part of the 20th century, Helen
Keller would conclude tellingher story to audiences by
saying, "We live by each otherand for each other. Alone, we
can do so little. Together, wecan do so much." Melissa has
explained how TTI and otheruniversities have worked
together through the UTCprogram to accomplish the three
goals Congress set out for theprogram: transportation
(40:25):
research, education andworkforce development, and
technology transfer. Thanks forlistening. If you liked what
you heard or learned something,please take just a minute to
give us a review, subscribe andshare this episode. I invite
you to join us next time foranother conversation about
getting ourselves and the stuffwe need from point A to point
(40:48):
B. Thinking Transportation is aproduction of the Texas A&M
Transportation Institute, amember of The Texas A&M
University System. The show isedited and produced by Chris
Pourteau. I'm your host, AllanRutter. Thanks again for
joining us . We'll see you nexttime.
Hey everyone.
Welcome to ThinkingTransportation--conversations
about how we get ourselves andthe stuff we need from one
place to another. I'm AllanRutter with the Texas A&M
Transportation Institute.
Research has always been partof TTI's DNA from our
beginning, nearly 75 years ago.
In 1950, the Texas A&M CollegeSystem Board of Regents created
(00:36):
TTI as a state agency to dohighway research for and on
behalf of the state of Texasand the State Highway
Department. We've also beenpart of research funded through
the University TransportationCenter Program, or UTCs, from
the program's creation by theU. S. Congress in 1987. Today
we're gonna talk about how TTIis involved in many different
(00:59):
UTCs and what is beingaccomplished through them.
We're joined by Dr. MelissaTooley , TTI's assistant agency
director for federal affairsand UTC operations who, in
addition to having a PhD incivil engineering, is also a
licensed professional engineer. She's been with TTI for about
18 years. Melissa, welcome.
Melissa Tooley (01:19):
Thank you, Allan. I'm so happy to be here.
Allan Rutter (01:22):
We're gonna talk in more detail about the
University TransportationCenter programs at US DOT, but
I thought I'd monologue alittle bit about how UTCs fit
into the overall researchportfolio within the U. S.
Department of Transportation.
The way I look at it after myexperience--and I'm gonna ask,
Melissa, you to correct me--Isee three big buckets of U.S.
DOT-related research (01:44):
the agency research at the DOT,
Modal AdministrationsCooperative Research Programs,
and UTCs. First off, within theU.S. DOT, the Office of
Secretary of Research andTechnology coordinates research
conducted by individual modaladministrations, and they do
that through contracts andresearch centers. And the
(02:07):
office also administers anumber of research programs of
its own, like the VolpeTransportation Center, the
Intelligent TransportationSystems Joint Program Office,
and the new Advanced ResearchProjects Agency Infrastructure,
or ARPA-I. Now, ModalAdministrations are also
involved in cooperativeresearch programs administered
(02:28):
by the Transportation ResearchBoard of the National
Academies. The oldest of theseis the National Cooperative
Highway Research Program, orNCHRP, in which the Federal
Highway Administration worksalongside state DOTs through
their association to developand administer an annual set of
research projects. Now, theFederal Aviation
(02:50):
Administration, NationalHighway Traffic Safety
Administration, and FederalTransit Administration are also
involved in cooperativeresearch programs for aviation
behavioral transportation,safety, and transit. TTI has
performed many researchprojects under these programs.
And finally, there are theUniversity Transportation
Centers, also administered bythe OST Research Office. Now,
(03:14):
what else would you add to thatoverview of transportation
research involving U.S. DOT?
Melissa Tooley (03:21):
Yeah, there are a few things I would add to
that, Allan. First of all,Congress does sometimes specify
research projects and studiesin the authorization bills. For
example, in the IIJA, Congressauthorized studies and research
projects on topics likedisaster relief mobilization,
(03:41):
air-quality improvements,permeable pavements, stormwater
management... It's kind of avast array of projects that
Congress had interest in. Andsome of those will be done
within U.S. DOT. And some ofthose will be farmed out to
universities and researchinstitutes. And then second,
you mentioned ARPA-I--thatoffice is facing some
(04:03):
challenges. That program wasauthorized in the IIJA, and
there was an amount funded toset up and operate the office.
The problem is they haven't hadany funds appropriated to
actually fund their researchand programs. And I think it's
noteworthy that there's a groupof UTCs that are actively
(04:24):
supporting efforts to supportthe research efforts of of
ARPA-I. So, I think there's alot of industry support for
funding that. So we'll see ifthat comes to pass. And then
one of the other things thatit's important to point out
that differentiates the UTCProgram from a lot of the
other, like cooperativeresearch programs and things
that you mentioned, is that inthose other programs, the
(04:48):
research problems are alreadydefined . And they go out for
proposals from universities andresearch institutes to address
problems that are alreadydefined for the UTC Program.
Once that center selects afocus area, they are able to
not only address researchproblems, they're able to
(05:10):
actually define what thoseproblems are. So it enables
UTCs to provide thoughtleadership as we move forward
through our transportationchallenges. And that's one of
the things that makes the UTCProgram unique.
Allan Rutter (05:23):
Well, that's a great point, and segues into a
conversation we'll have in alittle bit about how University
Transportation Centers actuallydo their work. Mm-hmm
listeners understand thedistinction between
appropriators and authorizers.
Uh ,
Melissa Tooley (05:41):
Yeah, I think it's really kind of a common
thing that just becausesomething is in an
authorization bill doesn't meanthat it's automatically going
to happen. There have to befunds appropriated for all of
the items in the bill. And Ithink a lot of people may or
may not get that distinction.
Allan Rutter (05:59):
But speaking of authorizations , I understand
that UTCs were first created byCongress in 1987 in that year's
service transportationauthorization. What were UTCs
first conceived to do?
Melissa Tooley (06:16):
You know, when the authorization bill in 1987
set up the UTC Program, it wasoriginally conceived as just a
research program foruniversities, specifically in
10 different regions around thecountry. So, there was a
regional UTC for every one of10 regions, and they were gonna
focus on research. And thoseregional centers were all
(06:39):
determined by competition. Sothe program was originally
conceived as a fullycompetitive regional UTC
Program. When ISTEA passed in1991, the focus of the program
was expanded to includeeducation and technology
transfer. And over time, theUTC Program now has kind of an
(07:02):
equal emphasis on research,education, and workforce
development and technologytransfer and commercialization.
So that's one of the thingsthat kind of makes it unique in
that some research programs,the output of that research is
the ultimate goal of theresearch project. With the UTCs
technology transfer is prettymuch baked into the program
(07:23):
from the beginning. Theresearch outputs that we
produce from the UTC Programhave to be translated into
practice, and we focus on thatfrom the very beginning of our
research endeavors. The otherthing that we do is focus on
education and workforcedevelopment. And that's one of
the great benefits ofuniversity-based research is
that we're able to bring thateducation focus through the
(07:46):
students that we work with. Andwe also have a number of other
programs in place that helpwith education and workforce
development as well.
Allan Rutter (07:54):
So , generally speaking, how do UTCs come
together? How are they puttogether? Who...is there some
sort of fantasy draft? I mean,how do these guys go about
doing their thing?
Melissa Tooley (08:08):
Well, it's kind of like matchmaking, to be
perfectly honest. You know, inthe beginning, UTCs could be
either single institutions orconsortia. We are now required
to be a consortium to competefor a UTC grant. When we have a
competition in place, or whenwe have an authorization bill
(08:29):
that's about to be passed,typically universities will
start reaching out to theircolleagues across the country
to talk about partnering onUTCs. I know at TTI, we started
well before the IIJA passed. Infact, we typically start well
before an authorization billpasses to reach out to our
(08:51):
colleagues and start formingteams to compete across the
various tiers. Also, we'llreach out to look for
opportunities to partner too ,because some universities, for
whatever reason, aren't in aposition or don't want to lead
a consortium. They'll startreaching out, looking to join
other people's proposals. Andwe do a lot of that at TTI, and
(09:14):
we've been very, verysuccessful in doing that over
the years.
Allan Rutter (09:18):
You mentioned in passing the tiers that part of
what Congress has done overtime, in addition to those
regional transportationcenters, there's national tiers
and then Tier 1 kinds ofthings. What's the distinction
between those descriptors orlabels or buckets?
Melissa Tooley (09:36):
Yeah, over the evolution of the program,
there's been several differenttier structures, but it seems
to have kind of settled intothe three tiers that you
described . The national tier,it's funded at $4 million a
year , and there are five UTCsthat are selected in that tier.
The purpose of the nationaltier is to provide thought
(09:59):
leadership on one of thosestatutory focus areas that the
IIJA laid out. Now there areseven of those, and there's
only five national centers. Sothose centers are expected to
be kind of like, you know, theflagship bearer for that
particular priority area. Andit is the most well-funded
(10:20):
tier. The second tier is theregional tier. It has been
competitive since day one. It'sfunded at $3 million a year.
And again, there are 10 ofthose regions around the
country. And then there are 20Tier 1 centers that are funded
at $2 million a year. Theyprovide a couple of different
(10:44):
opportunities. One is they cando kind of a deep dive into a
specific topic. Like, forexample, TTI--our Tier 1 that
we lead focuses on, you know,the nexus of transportation and
public health, which is a veryfocused topic within the
transportation enterprise. So,for a larger university, we're
(11:06):
able to really dive into thattopic through tier one. Another
cool thing about Tier 1 is thata smaller university that may
not be as competitive in theregional tier; the national
tier can be competitive in Tier1. So, Tier 1 gives
universities of all sizesopportunities to compete and be
successful within the program.
Allan Rutter (11:28):
So, one of the things you mentioned was that
while the 10 regional centershave always been competitive,
Congress in its practice orwisdom, depending on whether
there's earmarks or not, hassometimes specified what the
Tier 1 centers are. But moreoften than not, or at least the
last couple of iterations, havebeen fully competitive. How
does that affect how TTI goesabout reaching out to folks?
(11:51):
How do we compete in a fullycompetitive environment as
opposed to trying to do ourwork through the appropriations
earmarking?
Melissa Tooley (11:59):
Well, first of all, we stopped seeking
earmarks for one thing whenearmarking went away and the
program went fully competitive.
To be honest, it didn't reallychange the way that we
approached the competitions.
The regional centers havealways been competitive. And
TTI did lead one of theoriginal regional centers. In
fact, the SWUTC center was inoperation until 2016. So every
(12:23):
time there was areauthorization bill, TTI
competed to keep that grant.
And so that matchmaking processwent on every single year. The
most recent competition thatSWUTC was successful in--we had
added two additionaluniversities in Louisiana to
the consortium. So, thatconsortium continued to kind of
(12:43):
grow and evolve with thesubsequent bills. When the
SWTUC center ended, we had anearmarked center that was put
into the bill for SAFETEA-LU,which passed. It was one of the
authorization bills where SWUTCcompeted and was successful.
And we had the earmark centerthat became the University
Transportation Center forMobility, which is what I was
(13:06):
brought to TTI to set up andoperate for the Institute.
Since then, when the programwent completely competitive
with MAP -21 and the FAST Act,we went through this
matchmaking process every timewe were in a competition
mode--the same process that Idescribed earlier--and have
(13:29):
been very successful. Of the 11UTCs that TTI has been a part
of, 10 were selected bycompetition. Only one was
earmarked and that was UTCM andthe Safety Law bill .
Allan Rutter (13:43):
Wow. So, clearly through either experience or
repetition or having a goodapproach, that good approach
has been met with some success.
Let's talk a little bit abouthow UTCs function before we get
into the specific UTCs TTIleads or belongs to. These
guys, they're selected formultiple years. How do the UTCs
(14:04):
decide which research projectsto pursue?
Melissa Tooley (14:08):
Well, you know, the authorization bills
designate statutory researchpriorities within the bill. For
example, in the IIJA, therewere seven, as I mentioned
earlier. Those pertain tomobility, safety, congestion
reduction, environment,cybersecurity. And then there
(14:28):
are two related toinfrastructure. One focuses a
little bit more oninfrastructure resilience, and
the other is moreinfrastructure durability. So ,
it's more hard sciencepavements and materials,
geotechnical-type things . So,those are the seven areas. Now,
the UTCs and their competitionproposals will select one of
those to, kind of, guide theirresearch and programs . So
(14:52):
their whole program; like,let's say that they've selected
infrastructure durability astheir focus area. Their entire
program will rotate aroundinfrastructure durability. So,
when they're writing theirproposal, in order to give the
selection committees an idea ofthe type of work that their
(15:14):
consortium can do--thecontribution that they can make
to the state of the practice inthat area--a lot of times they
will typically prescribe thefirst year or even two years of
their research and programfunding within the proposal.
So, they'll have a wholeprogram of education research
and tech transfer that'sfocused on infrastructure
(15:36):
durability for that third yearor second year, depending on
how much of their fundingthey've prescribed in the
proposal. Typically, they'll goout with a call for proposals
from the researchers at theuniversities within the
consortium, who will thenprovide research ideas to the
(15:56):
steering committee for thatUTC. They will go out and get
feedback from their stakeholdergroups and select research
programs from that movingforward. And they'll typically
do that on a yearly basis allthe way through the end of the
grant. Now, there's a couple ofother models that people use.
There are some UTCs that have amore focused group of
(16:19):
researchers that they will goout to specifically, you know,
rather than do like kind of abroad call. That can be a very
successful model for some UTCs.
And then I actually know of aUTC a couple of competitions
back that actually designatedtheir entire program. They had
a small number of projects thatwere envisioned to evolve over
(16:43):
the lifetime of the grant. Sothey basically had these maybe
five or six projects with afive- or six-year research plan
for each one of 'em . And thatI thought was an interesting
model. At the end of the day,it didn't work out, but I
thought it was really aninteresting idea. However, the
model that I described earlierwhere you prescribe a couple of
(17:03):
years, and then go out forcalls, is really the way that
TTI has always operated. Theones that we lead and the ones
that we are involved in operatethe same way.
Allan Rutter (17:14):
Well, again, that sounds like, as you mentioned,
it helps the folks at OSTRunderstand what it is that
we're intending to do. Mm-hmm
with some success, so why arguewith it? And what you're
describing is that for a UTCmember institution, these
research projects through theUTC pretty much function like
(17:36):
any other sort of sponsoredresearch, this is what we're
gonna do. The UTC is basicallythe sponsor to the researcher.
Melissa Tooley (17:43):
Right, absolutely. And those projects
function exactly like theywould from any other research
sponsor. The only differenceis, you know, the research
sponsor is right there withinTTI. But yes, we require a
project plan, guidelines,milestones, you know, Gantt
charts. I mean, everything thatyou would normally have to do
for say a TxDOT project orNCHRP, you have to do for a UTC
(18:07):
project as well. And we'rerequired to report on that to
U.S. DOT on a regular basis aswell. So, you know, we ask for
this information from our PIsbecause we know that DOT is
gonna ask us for thatinformation as part of our
report requirements.
Allan Rutter (18:25):
Which makes perfect sense. Let's talk a
little bit about the mostrecent round of UTC selections.
First, TTI was involved in oneof those five national centers
you mentioned that wasselected. What is that center?
Who's leading it and what aresome of the things about it
that make it special?
Melissa Tooley (18:43):
Well, that center, the National Center for
Infrastructure Transformationor NCIT, as we call it, is led
by Prairie View A&M Universityunder the leadership of Dr.
Judy Perkins, who is a Regentsprofessor in The Texas A&M
University System. The partnersfor NCIT are TTI, our sister
(19:08):
agency, TEES, is also apartner. Our other partners are
the Blinn College District,Rutgers University, Michigan
State University, and ArizonaState University. So, we have a
lot of geographical diversitywithin that consortium, which
you typically see in a nationalcenter, right? If it's a
national center, you're notgonna want it to all be
concentrated in one area of thecountry. So we've got
(19:30):
universities in the north ,south , east , and west for
NCIT that is a very specialcenter in that it provides a
unique opportunity for severalentities within the Texas A&M
System to partner together.
Those being again, Prairie View, TTI, and TEES to work
(19:52):
together on this nationalcenter under Prairie View's
leadership. But there's acouple other things that make
that center very special. Firstof all, before the IIJA
competition, there had neverbeen a national UTC selected
from the heartland. They allwere in coastal states on the
East or West Coast. So we feltlike that was a pretty big gap.
(20:16):
I mean, after all the years ofthe program, they had never
selected a competition, anational center anywhere but on
the coast. In this competition,there were actually two both in
Texas, one of which is atPrairie View. So we were glad
to see that heartland hole getfilled in this competition, and
the heartland of the countryhas transportation challenges,
(20:37):
just like the coasts do. Andreally some unique challenges,
too. So we were glad to see aninfrastructure focused national
center be located in theheartland so we could address
the needs of rural America aswell as urban America. The
other thing that makes thiscenter really special is that
it is the first competitivelyawarded national center that's
(21:01):
ever been named at an HBCU orminority-serving institution,
too . So we are very, veryexcited about that. And under
Dr. Perkins's visionaryleadership, we've already
accomplished some prettyamazing things here within our
first two years.
Allan Rutter (21:21):
You're helping Dr. Perkins in part of that
administration of the UTC. Whatare some of the highlights of
early accomplishments of theNCIT center?
Melissa Tooley (21:31):
Yeah, it's that I serve as deputy director
under Dr. Perkins, who is ourdirector. And we just completed
a virtual colloquium just inthe last few weeks that had 150
unique participants. We had 51speakers who presented the
status of their researchprojects. We talked about our
(21:54):
education and workforcedevelopment projects, and the
PIs on those also spoke. Wealso talked about our
transportation technologytransfer efforts. So it was a
three day event. Verysuccessful. We were just
thrilled. Secretary Buttigiegdid the opening statement via
video. So, it was a triumph. Wewere very excited with the
(22:17):
success of that event andtechnology transfer at its
finest. So it gave ourresearchers a chance to kind of
interact with each other. Wedid a virtual reception, you
know , we've got a call forproposals out right now. So it
gave them a chance to kind ofmix and mingle and seek
opportunities to collaborate.
And I know of several projectsthat are being developed for
(22:40):
our internal problem statementcompetition right now that are
a direct result of theconnections made at the
colloquium. So it functionexactly like we intended it to
in our proposal. Anotherprogram that we have is the
Highway Construction WorkforcePartnership that was developed
in partnership with the TexasAsphalt Pavement Association
(23:01):
and the heavy highway industryin Texas to develop a training
program for disadvantaged youthwhere they will come out with a
certificate that will enablethem to get a job in the heavy
highway industry. They get thebasics of math like they'll
need to use for estimating andthings like that, but they
actually get to operateequipment and lay pavement on a
(23:22):
road, which we've built out atthe RELLIS campus, and that
they're slowly paving over timeevery time we do one of these
sessions. We've graduated 16students already, almost all of
whom are now actively workingin the heavy highway
construction industry, eitherat a construction company or at
(23:42):
TxDOT. So we're really excitedabout that program and where it
may go. We're also looking intoperhaps expanding that program
to veterans in addition todisadvantaged or
underrepresented groups. Wehave 18 research projects
ongoing at NCIT. We also, as aconsortium, competed for and
(24:03):
won the U.S. DOT AdvancedBridge Technology
Clearinghouse. That proposalwent out under Rutgers'
leadership, and all of ourpartners are participating in
that project. Gosh, I mean,there's so much. We hosted a
reception at TRB last year.
We're gonna do another one thisyear along with a student
poster event that we're gonnado before the reception to give
(24:26):
our students some exposure andgive them an opportunity to do
more presentations. So, we'regiving our students
opportunities to do a lot ofthings and get themselves out
in front of their peers and PIsfrom other institutions. And
right now, you know, I thinkone of the things that I didn't
talk about earlier is thatcongressional support is very
(24:47):
important for the UTCs becauseit is a congressionally
directed program and that it isin the authorization bills. We
are working on an NCITnewsletter right now that is
focused to a congressionalaudience to let them know, Hey,
here's what we've been doingwith this grant money for this
program that you put in thebill. And we think that's
(25:08):
really exciting. In fact, thisis something new that we're
trying at NCIT. We have threenewsletters a year. One is
focused to our academiccolleagues, one is focused to
our stakeholders in industry,and the third is directed
toward a congressionalaudience. So that's another
really cool thing that we'vedone with newsletters, but
(25:28):
that'll give you some idea ofsome of the things we've done.
Allan Rutter (25:31):
Well, certainly one of the things that'll, I
hope, be clearly communicatedthrough that
congressional-orientednewsletter is the breadth of
activity that's going on shouldmake them feel pretty good
about this part of theinfrastructure bill that we put
in.
Melissa Tooley (25:46):
Yeah, absolutely. We're really
excited about it.
Allan Rutter (25:50):
Now we're also part of one of those 10
regional UTCs. Mm-hmm
the Southern PlainsTransportation Center? Yes .
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat and how you and Dr.
Puppala are involved in that?
Melissa Tooley (26:05):
Yeah. That center is led out of the
University of Oklahoma. It is areally big consortium that
includes universities in everystate in our region. And those
states are Oklahoma, Arkansas,Louisiana, Texas, and New
Mexico. That center focuses oninfrastructure as well,
(26:25):
specifically climate change andhow it is impacting
infrastructure. Dr . Puppalaand I serve as associate
directors for that center. Irepresent TTI and he represents
the TEES side . We work veryclosely together. I might also
add that Dr. Puppala is anassociate director for the NCIT
center as well. So he and Iworked together on that center
(26:46):
also. But this particularcenter has done quite a bit of
research on resilience andclimate impacts in the region.
TTI's contribution has to dowith how port facilities are
gonna be impacted by climatechange and resiliency for port
facilities. So we're veryexcited about that consortium
(27:09):
as well.
Allan Rutter (27:11):
TTI through the university as lead agency for
one of those 20 Tier 1 UTCs.
Mm-hmm
You had mentioned that earlierin a conversation. Tell us a
little more about what theCenter for Advancing Research
in Transportation, Emissions,Energy and Health, CARTEEH, is
and its members.
Melissa Tooley (27:32):
Yes. CARTEEH has won in two consecutive
competitions. It is the Tier 1center that is our marquee UTC
for TTI. The consortiumconsists of TTI, Georgia Tech,
and Johns Hopkins. It was thefirst time that a medical
(27:54):
research institution had beenincluded in the UTC Program.
This past competition, theyadded the Morehouse School of
Medicine, which is a medicalschool that is also an HBCU.
They also added North DakotaState to get that tribal
element into their research.
And UC-Riverside--sorry, that'sthe University of California at
(28:16):
Riverside--and The Universityof Texas-El Paso. So it's a
very broad consortium for aTier 1. I mean, includes really
all along the southern borderand all the way back up through
North Dakota and into the eastand back down. So they've got a
lot of geographic and topicdiversity within that
(28:36):
consortium. They started outreally doing mostly
transportation emissions andhow they impact public health,
but over time have reallybranched out more into
transportation impacts on airquality of the electrification
of the vehicle fleet and someof the challenges involved. So
that center has grown andevolved over time, and I think
(28:59):
in a very positive andcompetitive way. Very well-run
center, very impactfulresearch.
Allan Rutter (29:06):
And finally, let's talk a little bit about
other Tier 1 UTCs that involveTTI: Maritime Transportation
Research and Education, and theUniversity Transportation
Center for Railway Safety. Whois TTI involved with in those
and what kinds of stuff arethey doing?
Melissa Tooley (29:22):
Yeah, sure.
MarTREC, which is the MaritimeTransportation Research and
Education Center, is headlinedat the University of Arkansas.
The other partners in thatcenter are Jackson State
University, Louisiana StateUniversity, the University of
New Orleans, of course, TexasA&M/TTI, and Vanderbilt
(29:47):
University. And if you look atthe members of that consortium,
they are really uniquelypositioned to focus on maritime
transportation. This is a verygood example of the matchmaking
process that we go through.
There's quite a few portfacilities within the state of
Arkansas that go into theMississippi and then go south
to New Orleans. So they do alot of maritime logistics
(30:12):
research. They do a lot of portresilience research. They've
been around for threecompetitions. And they had been
competitive successfully oncealready. And we were not a part
of that consortium originally.
And then when the FAST Actcompetition came up, I
contacted a colleague at theUniversity of Arkansas and
(30:34):
said, Hey, you guys are doingsome great stuff. We've got
some people that could really,I think bring value to your
program. Would you beinterested in perhaps adding us
to your consortium? And shechecked with her consortium
members and they all agreedthat that would make their
proposal more competitive thesecond time around. And we were
(30:54):
indeed successful in thatcompetition. And we've been a
part of that consortium eversince.
Allan Rutter (30:59):
Of course, that maritime center deals with both
inland waterways and portfacilities on the coast.
Melissa Tooley (31:04):
Yes, it does, because the University of New
Orleans does a lot of coastalport facility research. They
also do a lot of education andworkforce development, like,
for barge captains and thingslike that. So it's a really
kind of unique program withinthe UTCs.
Allan Rutter (31:20):
And the final one I mentioned has to do with
railway safety, which as atrain boy , I'm very excited
about.
Melissa Tooley (31:26):
about that one, too. It's ledout of The University of Texas,
Rio Grande Valley, or UT-RGV,as we call it for short. And
then the partners are TexasA&M, TTI, and the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln. And thatparticular center focuses on
three different things (31:47):
railway mechanical systems, which
essentially is just, you know,better mechanical components
for better performance ofrailways; railway operation
systems, which includes thingslike railway crossing safety,
railway operations safety; andthen railway infrastructure
systems, which is things likenew and more durable materials
(32:11):
and systems, safetyassessments, and advanced
technology for monitoringrailway infrastructure. But
also, Allan, I want to pointout that one of the big things
about competition is that itactually provides more
opportunity for TTI thanearmarking did because we have
the opportunity to not onlycompete for a lead, we can also
(32:32):
be a part of all these otherteams, which is why after that
FAST Act competition, afterthings went completely
competitive, we were a part offour UTCs, one of which we led.
And then after the most recentcompetition we were , we ended
up being a part of five, onethat we lead and four that
we're partnered on. So one ofthe things that Agency Director
(32:53):
Winfrey wanted to do was take amore systematic approach to how
we manage our UTCs. So. We puttogether a UTC management
office within TTI to manage theadministrative part of our UTC
involvement. And what that doesis free our PIs to do what they
(33:13):
do best, which is research,education, and technology
transfer, and let our officedeal with things like the match
requirements, the reportrequirements, managing our
relationships with the leadsfor our various UTCs. And we
feel like this kind ofsystematic approach, this
institutional office thatsupports our UTC activities, is
(33:36):
gonna position us really wellfor the next competition.
Allan Rutter (33:40):
You've been involved in UTCs for quite a
while, both as a UTC directorand at the administration
level, helping coordinateproposals, working with other
institutions through theCouncil of University
Transportation Centers, andthen helping connect UTC
research to otherorganizations. What are some of
the biggest shifts and changesin the UTC program that you've
(34:05):
seen in that involvement?
Melissa Tooley (34:07):
You know, it seems that every time an
authorization bill passes, thepriorities of Congress might
change slightly. Consequently,the focus areas, the selection
criteria and the prioritiesmight change with every new
bill. For example, the IIJAbrought a new priority area.
Cybersecurity was new in thislast bill. So things do change
(34:33):
slightly according to thepriorities of the committees of
jurisdiction for theauthorization bill. But I've
always said, although the lensmay change from which, you
know, we view transportationissues, transportation problems
really don't, we're alwaysgonna need safe, reliable, and
efficient ways to move peopleand freight, but there may just
(34:57):
be more or less emphasis oncertain issues as to how we get
there.
Allan Rutter (35:03):
And one of the things in talking about the
NCIT center that got you reallyexcited is some of the
accomplishments that thatcenter is doing. What are some
of the other bigaccomplishments you've seen as
part of UTCs that you've been apart of with TTI?
Melissa Tooley (35:17):
You know, there's been a number of
programs at TTI that wereinitially either seated with
UTC funds or were significantlyenhanced by UTC funding. Just a
few that come tomind--obviously our activities
in electrification, ouractivities in connected and
(35:38):
automated vehicles, TSMO, whichis transportation systems
management and operations. Iknow actually that whole field
was pretty much seated at TTIwith UTC funding, alternative
financing. As you know, theHighway Trust Fund is not
sustainable. So we startedlooking at alternative
financing years ago with theUTCM grant, maritime
(36:00):
transportation and ports,innovative materials for
pavements and bridges, and allthe other physical
infrastructure that we need inthis country. Hurricane
evacuation technologies ...
some of the benefits are a lotmore subtle. For example, the
ability of TTI to buildexpertise on emerging issues. I
(36:22):
talked a little bit earlierabout the fact that the UTC
Program gives us theopportunity to define the
issues as well as address them. This provides one way that
TTI can provide thoughtleadership and have that
thought leadership be funded bya consistent source. That
benefit is one of the greatestbenefits of the program itself.
(36:42):
On the education side, we'vehad a summer internship program
that's been sponsored by ourUTCs for 10 years, and six of
our UTCs over the last 10 yearshave participated in that
program; 93 students havecompleted that program over the
last 10 years. And 17 of thoseresearchers stayed on with TTI
(37:03):
after the program as studentresearchers, or even
transitioned to full-time rolesat TTI. I know of at least two
or three people that stayed onas student researchers and then
stayed on as full-time TTIemployees after being a part of
our student internship program.
And then SWUTC, our regionalcenter that I talked about
(37:24):
earlier, that grant alonesupported almost 1,300 students
over the life of that grant,95% of whom entered the
transportation profession. Thishas had immeasurable impact on
the transportation professionas a whole, because all of
those people went out intopractice. That's a lot of
people. And you go to meetingslike TRB and an awful lot of
(37:48):
those people have either workedat or been touched by TTI in
some way. And that's just oneof our UTCs and its impact. And
then technology transfer, youknow, again, it's a
three-legged stool. CARTEEHspun off a technology company
from the results of one oftheir research projects that's
been very, very successful. Wecommercialized a hurricane
(38:11):
evacuation technology that wedeveloped with UTC support
funds. I mean, who knows whatinteresting and cool things
we're gonna develop with ournew UTC grant? And I think the
sky's the limit in what we canaccomplish in the years to come
.
Allan Rutter (38:26):
One of the things that's pretty clear for both
what you've been able todescribe and the passion with
which you're able to do it, isthat, you know, we as Texans
are really fortunate that yourexpertise and experience has
been applied in so manysuccessful UTCs that have
involved TTI. I can tell fromthat enthusiasm that you've got
a real passion for this. Whatare some of the other reasons
(38:47):
you're excited to show up forwork every day ?
Melissa Tooley (38:50):
professionally speaking, whatmotivates me to go to the
office every day is theopportunity to provide
resources for other people todo what they do. I mean, TTI
has breadth depth in virtuallyevery area at the
transportation enterprise. Wehave researchers who are the
(39:13):
very best at what they do. Imean, it's absolutely mind
blowing the depth of expertisewe have at this institution.
They just need the resources todo it. And in my mind, there's
no better way to provide thoseresources than the UTC program
because not only do they havethe opportunity to address
transportation issues, theyhave the ability to define
(39:37):
those transportation issues aswell. And I'm beyond blessed to
be a part of TTI's five newUTCs. Honestly, this is the
best job ever.
Allan Rutter (39:47):
Well, I'm happy that you're doing it both as
somebody who's been able to bea recipient of those resource
connections and to be able towork with you . So Melissa,
thanks for joining us today.
Melissa Tooley (39:58):
Thank you. I appreciate the invitation,
Allan.
Allan Rutter (40:02):
In the early part of the 20th century, Helen
Keller would conclude tellingher story to audiences by
saying, "We live by each otherand for each other. Alone, we
can do so little. Together, wecan do so much." Melissa has
explained how TTI and otheruniversities have worked
together through the UTCprogram to accomplish the three
goals Congress set out for theprogram: transportation
(40:25):
research, education andworkforce development, and
technology transfer. Thanks forlistening. If you liked what
you heard or learned something,please take just a minute to
give us a review, subscribe andshare this episode. I invite
you to join us next time foranother conversation about
getting ourselves and the stuffwe need from point A to point
(40:48):
B. Thinking Transportation is aproduction of the Texas A&M
Transportation Institute, amember of The Texas A&M
University System. The show isedited and produced by Chris
Pourteau. I'm your host, AllanRutter. Thanks again for
joining us . We'll see you nexttime.
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