ITSC 2021 Plenary and Keynote Speakers
Tentative Schedule
Plenary Session I, Monday September 20, 2021
8:30am-10:00am
Huei Peng, Roger L. McCarthy Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Director of Mcity, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A.
Title: Opportunities and Challenges in Autonomous Driving
Abstract: Autonomous vehicles are essential for mobility in big cities, just like how elevators make high-rise buildings livable. While significant progress has been achieved over the last 15 years, there are still several remaining challenges, namely: cost, reliable performance, and trust. This plenary talk will be given by Professor Huei Peng, who has been the Mcity Director over the last 7 years. Mcity operates the world’s first purpose-built proving ground for developing and testing the performance and safety of connected and automated vehicles under controlled and realistic conditions. Testing new technologies in a safe, controlled environment is essential before deploying automated vehicles on public streets, roads, and highways. The Mcity Test Facility has more than 18 acres of roads and traffic infrastructure. The full-scale outdoor laboratory simulates the broad range of complexities vehicles encounter in urban and suburban environments, and provides the connected infrastructure and operating system to serve as a smart city test bed. In this talk, he will give an overview of the test facility, as well as discussing the remaining challenges for the development of autonomous vehicles.
Bio: Huei Peng received the Ph.D. degree from the University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA, in 1992. He is a Professor with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His current research focuses include design and control of electrified vehicles, and connected/automated vehicles. He currently serves as the Director of Mcity, which studies connected and autonomous vehicle technologies and promotes their deployment. Huei Peng is both an SAE Fellow and an ASME Fellow.
John Graham, Professor and Former Dean of the Paul H O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.A.
Title: Commercializing EVs and AVs: The Role of Public Policy.
Abstract: This talk will examine the challenge of commercializing EVs and AVs, emphasizing what has been learned about EVs in China, Europe, Japan and the United States. The theme is that mainstream retail car buyers will be slow to adopt EVs without strong incentives from public policy. In the case of fully autonomous vehicles, producers may be hesitant to offer them — even if consumers want them — without a predictable regulatory and liability framework.
Bio: John D Graham is a Professor and former Dean (2008-2019) of the Paul H O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University. From 2006 to 2008, he also served as Dean of the Frederick Pardee RAND Graduate School (PRGS) at the RAND Corporation in California, the largest doctoral program in policy analysis in the world. From 2001 to 2006, Professor Graham previously served in the George W Bush administration as the Senate-confirmed Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, US Office of Management and Budget. Dr. Graham was previously a tenured professor at the Harvard School of Public Health where he joined the faculty as Assistant Professor in 1985. Dr. Graham is a world renowned researcher in decision analysis methods and cost-benefit analysis of public policies and regulations related to public safety and health. His prolific writings addressed both the analytic and institutional aspects of lifesaving policies. Dr. Graham is widely known to the public and opinion leaders through his entertaining speeches about why Americans are both paranoid and neglectful of risks in their daily lives. He has made several prime-time television appearances and he has spoken frequently to groups of reporters, business leaders, and government officials. This year Professor Graham published a new book entitled THE GLOBAL RISE OF THE MODERN PLUG-IN ELECTRIC VEHICLE: PUBLIC POLICY, INNOVATION AND STRATEGY. It is available from Elgar Publishing in the United Kingdom.
Plenary Session II, Tuesday September 21, 2021,
8:30am-10:00am
Kenneth M. Leonard, Director, ITS Joint Program Office, U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S.A.
Title: Transforming the Way Society Moves Through Intelligent Transportation Technology
Abstract: Over the past three decades, the ITS JPO has initiated research that has led to numerous successes. Its work has enabled intelligent transportation technology to be integrated into vehicles and infrastructure and has catalyzed existing and planned deployments by government agencies and private entities. Ken Leonard, Director of the USDOT Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) discusses a transformative strategy for investment in intelligent transportation systems. He will identify a next generation of advances in ITS research and development that will be key components of the evolving transportation system. He will describe JPO’s approach and ongoing activities to implement to a bold vision of where the future of intelligent transportation is headed. He will discuss how a diverse set of stakeholders play pivotal roles in the pace of advancing technologies that enhance traffic safety, improve efficiency and sustainability, and increase mobility while advancing equity for Americans nationwide.
Bio: Ken Leonard has over 30 years’ leadership experience in research, development and deployment of advanced technologies. His work to mature and develop technologies in energy; combat systems; strategic defense; aviation communications, navigation and surveillance; weather and surface transportation has guided technology systems from the laboratory to operational use. He is the Director of Intelligent Transportation Systems at the United States Department of Transportation where he works to advance a portfolio of programs designed to transform the way society moves. These include connected and automated vehicles, smart cities, accessible transportation, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and other cutting-edge transportation systems designed to increase the safety and productivity of the nation’s transportation system.
Umit Ozguner, TRC Chair Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The Ohio State University
Title: Decentralized Control Problems in ITS
Abstract: ITS is an area which is rich in application examples of Decentralized Control. As in any such area, the complexities of the system considered, the real-life constraints, the availability of usable sensor, communication, computation and actuation technologies eventually strain the boundaries of the available theory. At that point we can resort to some approximations or ad hoc solutions. Or we can go back to expand the theory. Decentralized Control has been used in traffic regulation, intersection signalization, route guidance. As we get closer to the vehicle, it has been used in truck convoying, vehicle merging and vehicle-pedestrian interaction. Finally, it has been used in individual wheel control. We shall present a selection of both historical and very near-term examples and review what aspects of Decentralized Control Theory was used.
Bio: Professor Emeritus Umit Ozguner is a well known expert on Intelligent Vehicles and Intelligent Transportation Systems. He has had a career of over 40 years contributing to various aspects of IV and ITS, as a researcher, educator and through his service to the ITS community. He has been author or co-author of more than 500 publications which have had over 16,000 citations and is the co-author of a book on Autonomous Ground Vehicles. He has advised about 40 students on their PhD dissertations. Prof. Ozguner holds the title of “Fellow” in IEEE for his “contributions to the theory and practice of autonomous ground vehicles” and is the (founding) Editor in Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles.
His research has been (and is) supported by many industries including Ford, GM, Honda and Renault and the DoT University Transportation Center (UTC) Research Program (where he was the PI and Director of the “Crash Imminent Safety” Center.)
He is the President of Oztech Inc., a company involved in R&D for a number of industry and government sponsors. Oztech Inc. develops algorithms and software for sensing, control and testing of a range of automated ground vehicles and has recently been selected for the US DoT NHTSA 5-year program on Vehicle Electronics and Safety Systems.
Banquet Keynote Speech, Tuesday September 21, 2021,
7:00pm-7:30pm
Wayne Eckerle, Vice President of Global Research and Technology, Cummins Inc., Columbus, Indiana, U.S.A.
Title: The Role of Connected and Automated Technology on Cummins Path to Decarbonization
Abstract: There are three pillars to Cummins decarbonization efforts to achieve net zero well to power carbon emissions: reducing the carbon generated to create low carbon energy sources, improving the efficiency of converting the energy to power, and reducing amount of power that is needed by customers for their work cycles. As the power provider to our customers, Cummins has an advantage to deliver the third leg through leveraging connected and automated technology. This presentation will focus on the connected and automated technology solutions under development along with the value customers can expect from them.
Bio: Dr. Wayne Eckerle is Vice President of Global Research and Technology at Cummins, Inc. He is responsible for leading the development of Cummins’ next generation of products as well as tools and processes that support future technology development. His current focus is on developing technology in support of technology plans that support decarbonization of Cummins products by 2050. Dr. Eckerle joined Cummins in 1989 and has held leadership positions in Metrology, Quality, Fuel Systems Technology, Thermal and Fluid Sciences, and Advanced Engineering. Prior to joining Cummins, he worked at UTRC on a variety of internal flow projects including chemical laser systems, scramjets, and gas turbine combustion. Dr. Eckerle was also an Associate Professor at Clarkson University where he taught classes in Thermal and Fluid Sciences and performed research in turbulent separated flows, two-phase flow heat transfer, and supersonic combustion. He received the Cummins J. Irwin Miller Award of Excellence in 2005, an Honorary Doctorate from Purdue University in 2009, Cummins Julius Perr Innovation Award in 2009, became an SAE Fellow in 2011, and an ASME Fellow in 2020.
Plenary Session III, Wednesday September 22, 2021,
8:30am-10:00am
Rini Sherony, Senior Principal Engineer, Collaborative Safety Research Center, Toyota North America R&D, Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A.
Title: Mobility and Safety in the U.S
Abstract: In the US in the last decade we have experienced significant changes in vehicle technologies and mobility. We have many automated driving systems SAE level 1 vehicles on the road and some level 2 vehicles. Level 4 low speed shuttles are doing trial in many parts of the country with moving passengers. New mobility options like e-scooters are becoming very popular as a first mile last mile transportation choice. With so much changes safety continued to be the priority. Toyota is not only a leader in the world’s auto industry but also embarking on an extraordinary transformation to lead in mobility for all. This presentation will touch base on Toyota’s current state in mobility, how we are approaching safety from our many collaboration researches with leading universities to working with standard organizations like SAE and ISO to ensure that safety is addressed at all levels not just Toyota products and help protect people in both inside and outside of the vehicle.
Bio: Rini Sherony is a Sr. Principal Engineer at Toyota’s Collaborative Safety Research Center (CSRC), part of Toyota Motor North America in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She is with Toyota for over 20 years working in active safety and automated driving research, system design, evaluation/planning and data analysis. Rini has a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering. Currently Rini is the lead for active safety, automated driving collaboration research and data analysis. Her responsibilities include development of standardized test procedures, test targets, testing, sensor requirements, benefit estimation, etc. for active safety systems Road Departure Mitigation system, etc. She has led the development of SAE’s pedestrian/bicyclist test target standards and also is involved in SAE/ISO Automated Driving activities. In addition to SAE She is a member of the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) and the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). Rini is an organizer for SAE ADAS to Automated Driving (AD) conference, SAE Government Industry Conference, and SAE World Congress ADAS/Ad sessions. Rini has authored/coauthored more than 120 papers/publications and has been granted 18 US patents. She is the recipient of SAE’s 2019 Forest R. McFarland Award. She serves as a board member for University of Michigan’s CCAT (Center for Connected and Automated Transportation) advisory board and Center for Automotive Research ‘s (CAR) advisory board.
Jim Misener, Senior Director, Qualcomm, U.S.A.
Title: The Connected Transportation Future
Abstract: Increased heterogeneous connectivity will tie emerging mobility and safety ideas to a pragmatic, deployable transportation future. This connectivity will be illustrated with a retrospective look at thus far unaddressed user needs from both personal mobility and transportation system management and operations perspective. It will progress to the still-pertinent user needs that can be met with a new generation of communications technologies that are on the cusp of global deployment. The talk will conclude with a prognostication of the communication innovation and applications we anticipate on our roads. Along the way, we will cover technology underpinnings and deployment models, as both dimensions are important to making this future very real.
Bio: Jim Misener is Senior Director, Product Management and the Global V2X Ecosystem Lead for Qualcomm. He develops and executes Qualcomm’s C-V2X deployment strategy across all global regions and works with roadside and automotive stakeholders, enabling software/hardware stack suppliers and internal teams to accomplish broad C-V2X deployment. Previously at Qualcomm, Jim led the automotive standards team and C-V2X was a major emphasis as well. In addition to his roles at Qualcomm, Jim serves as a 5GAA board member, ITS California board member, the SAE C-V2X Technical Committee Chair and is active in TRB, which involves serving as an ITS Committee member, Vehicle-Highway Automation committee member and Automated Vehicle Symposium Enabling Technologies session organizer. Jim also serves as an Advisory Council member to the Carnegie Melon University/University of Pennsylvania/Ohio State National University Transportation Center, Mobility 21 and on the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society Board of Governors.
Jim was an early pioneer in vehicle-highway automation and vehicle safety communication at the California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH) at UC Berkeley, starting in the mid-90s. He has served as the PATH Executive Director, Executive Advisor to Booz Allen Hamilton, and an independent consultant with clients ranging from Silicon Valley startups, the automotive industry and Federal and State government agencies. Jim holds BS and MS degrees from UCLA and USC.