University of Iowa Receives Grant From Department of Transportation for Autonomous Vehicle Research
The University of Iowa’s National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS) has received a $1.4 million University Transportation Center grant from the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) Research and Innovation Technology Administration.
The grant will allow the university, along with four other institutions, to work together as a part of the Safety Research Using Simulation (SAFER-SIM) interdisciplinary center, in an effort to achieve the DOT’s ultimate research priority of promoting safety.
To see that the DOT’s research priority of promoting safety is achieved, the five institutions under SAFER-SIM will focus on the topics of automated vehicle technology, connected vehicle technology, vulnerable road users, roadway infrastructure design and distributed simulation technology.
“I think the greatest thing about the center is that it creates a community of researchers that work in different areas, but allows them to capitalize on their strengths to solve a set of problems that don’t fit neatly into one discipline,” said Joseph Kearney, an associate director who will oversee research activities of the center. Kearney is also a professor of computer science and associate dean in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
In an article from Iowa Now, Kearney added, “this program really links researchers together in a way that would be very difficult to do otherwise.”
The SAFER-SIM center will have the opportunity to receive up to $7 million in funding over five years after the initial $1.4 million in the first year. SAFER-SIM is one of just six centers working in the “Promoting Safety” priority area that will receive funding.
From the SAFER-SIM website, U.S. Representative Dave Loebsack of Iowa's 2nd Congressional District said, “funding like this is critical for these folks to continue their important work of ensuring Iowa’s roads are made safer every day.”
