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2013 Mid-Continent Transportation Research Symposium

Report # MATC-ISU: 132 Final Report

Shashi NambisanDirectorInstitute for TransportationIowa State University

2013

A Coopertative Research Project sponsored by U.S. Department of Tranportation-Research, Innovation and Technology Innovation Administration

WBS:25-1121-0003-132

2013 Mid-Continent Transportation Research Symposium Dates Held: August 15–16, 2013 Location of the Activity: Gateway Hotel and Conference Center, Ames, Iowa Audience Composition: Primarily local, state, and federal agency personnel, university researchers, and students Estimated Audience Size: Approximately 370 participants from 15 different states Names of Co-PIs/Co-Authors/Researchers Involved: The event was organized by Shashi Nambisan, director of the Institute for Transportation at the time, who worked with a committee representing Iowa State University partners (the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering and the Midwest Transportation Consortium), The University of Iowa, the University of Wisconsin’s National Center for Freight and Infrastructure, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, the Mid-America Transportation Center, and co-host Iowa Department of Transportation 1) Description of project and explanation of objective (conception and goals): The day-and-a-half Mid-Continent Transportation Research Symposium provided an opportunity for transportation professionals from the Midwest and beyond to network with their peers, learn about advancements and applications in their fields, and discuss future directions for research, all at a TRB-like event. 2) Description of the Actual Event/Activity/Program (approach and implementation): The theme for the 2013 symposium (the eighth biennial event at Iowa State University) was “Using Research to Enhance Decision Making.” Under this theme, the symposium covered a broad spectrum of transportation issues, with sessions on both basic and applied research.

Several months in advance of the event, a Call for Abstracts was issued nationally. Abstracts of papers were submitted and evaluated through an online process, and 85 were selected for presentation. The presentations were organized by tracks, which included the following topic areas:

Asset Management Traffic and Safety Pavements and Materials Structures/Construction Geotechnical Local Roads Considerations Second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Technology/Operations Planning, Mobility and Logistics Road Maintenance/Weather

The tracks were offered during four concurrent sessions over the course of the event. A poster session with 16 posters was presented before the evening banquet at the end of the first day.

The symposium was very well attended, with approximately 370 participants from 15 different states. We had several invited speakers at this event, including the following national leaders in the transportation research industry:

Michael Pack – Director of the Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory, University of Maryland

Neil Pedersen – Deputy Director, Transportation Research Board Mark Swanlund – Team Leader, Office of Transportation Performance Management, Federal

Highway Administration Earl Swift – Author of “The Big Roads” book

3) Conclusion (results and benefits): Overall, we had a very successful symposium, with one of the highest attendance numbers since the biennial symposium was initiated in 1996. After the event we compiled evaluation results and, on a scale of 1–5 (5 being the highest), the lowest rating received in any category was a 4. We posted many of the presentations on the InTrans website at www.intrans.iastate.edu/events/midcon2013/compendium/.