Technology Transfer is the critical link between research and application. Research labs regularly develop new discoveries and methods that can benefit our daily lives – the key is to make the right people aware of those discoveries and methods so that they can implemented in professional practice or turned into products and made widely available. This does not happen by accident: it takes an understanding of academia, the public sector, and the private sector, as well as knowing how to connect them – that’s where technology transfer comes in.
The UFTI-T2 Center has been engaged in transportation technology transfer for over 35 years and has participated in a wide range of projects to make new technologies known and available to public and private audiences. In those 35 years, UFTI-T2 has developed a broad portfolio of expertise and training, education, and communications. For most of those years, we were just “T2”, but with the founding of the University of Florida Transportation Institute (UFTI), we gained a powerful partner and became part of an internationally recognized team of faculty that cover virtually every aspect of transportation research.
Now as UFTI-T2, we can offer a full range of expertise to address transportation challenges and deliver solutions from entry-level workforce development and training to professional engineering practice. Here are a few examples:
- studying the use of automated vehicles for work zone safety
- studying the use and impact of driver assistance technologies
- supporting safe access to schools through analysis of barriers and developing solutions
- promoting rural road safety by state-of the-art analysis and “road maps” to safer roads
- selected by FHWA to introduce new technologies in regional workshops across the U.S.
- working with local governments to develop traffic safety plans and reduce crashes
- application of machine learning to signal control
- special experience with rural settings
- special focus on safety: supporting statewide safety programs, technical assistance, and training
- expertise in developing and delivering training in classroom, field, and electronic settings
You can view comprehensive lists of both current and completed projects on the UFTI-T2 Projects page. These projects range from the basics of child passenger safety to cutting-edge automated vehicle applications.