“The key for UD,” Harker said, “is to take the innovations developed on campus and get them into the hands of the people on the ground who can make them work. That's where partnerships come in--partnerships are crucial to ensuring that Delaware is competitive in the global economy and that our transportation systems meet the needs of the people of Delaware.
“The challenge isn't small,” he continued, “but we're in an excellent position to succeed. The environment and the infrastructure are in place to create these knowledge-based partnerships.”
To mobilize the resources needed for this effort, Harker emphasized that UD needs to support individual excellence in an atmosphere that fosters entrepreneurship while also working across disciplinary boundaries to create new ideas.
“In the new model of partnerships,” Harker said, “government, industry, community groups and higher education must cooperate from the outset to develop ideas and bring them to the marketplace. We must think differently and more creatively about collaboration.”
Harker pointed to the transportation forum as a step in that direction. “DCT is a good example of this kind of partnership,” he said.
Economic prosperity, quality of life, air quality and safety are all cornerstones of transportation systems, according to Wicks. “Delaware has a critical role to play in the region,” she said, “but we also have to be concerned about local issues, such as maintenance of our bridges and pavements, fuel efficiency of our buses and incident management on our highways. This forum is a good example of how all of our issues are interrelated.”
Wicks also pointed to the aging population as a factor in a whole range of transportation issues, including land use, driver education, design considerations (e.g., signage and striping) and recruitment of future transportation officials.
Ralph Reeb, director of planning for the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), wrapped up the welcoming remarks by pointing out that the best way to address transportation challenges is to ask good researchable questions.
“We also have to prioritize,” he said, “because there are far more questions in this room than there are dollars, people or time to answer them.”
DCT Director Ardeshir Faghri, professor of civil and environmental engineering at UD, said the goal of the transportation forum was to identify issues of importance to Delaware, the region and the Northeast corridor.
DCT, which is the research and education arm of DelDOT, has ongoing projects in a number of areas, including the use of advanced materials for bridge construction and rehabilitation, the development of alternative fuel technologies and the establishment of policies to accommodate the impact of an aging population on Delaware's transportation systems.
Besides administering research, DCT oversees a technology transfer program that serves as a resource to local government agencies and municipalities in Delaware.
Ideas generated among the forum attendees--including university researchers, consultants, civic groups and individual users of the transportation system--will be considered for incorporation into future DCT research, education and training programs, Faghri said.
Article by Diane S. Kukich
Photos by Kevin Quinlan
