Into Focus: How Oklahoma is Transforming Transportation
Friday, April 6, 2018
STILLWATER, Okla. – The College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology (CEAT) at Oklahoma State University was awarded a 2017 Innovation Incentive Award of $75,000 by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) to document transportation innovations led by Tribal, local and State agencies in Oklahoma.
"Our goal is to feature Oklahoma-based projects that utilized new technologies, processes, products and innovations recommended in the Federal Highway Administration's Every Day Counts (EDC) Initiative," said project leader and journalist Karla Sisco. "Tribal governments, counties and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation work together to keep the state's infrastructure stable and to do so, they have to be creative, committed and innovative, especially in times where the budget for transportation needs keeps shrinking."
A State-based model that identifies and rapidly deploys proven, EDC promotes underutilized innovations to shorten the project delivery process, enhance roadway safety, reduce traffic congestion, and improve environmental sustainability. Proven technology innovations promoted through EDC facilitate greater efficiency at the State and local levels, saving time, money and resources that can be used to deliver more projects.
Each Fall, State Innovation Councils (STIC) nationwide seek to fund projects that will ensure new methods of work find their way from ideas shared by FHWA, to knowledge and work practices employed by transportation experts in their daily work.
"By sharing the stories behind innovative projects completed in the past few years, we can give Tribal, local, state and federal transportation professionals the chance to give a real-world dimension to EDC Innovations and to add to the body of knowledge about employing these new ideas," said photographer Amy M. Echo-Hawk (Yakama/Pawnee), who will be working with Sisco to create outreach products reflecting innovations from various parts of the state.
In the project, Sisco and Echo-Hawk, part of the Office of the Assistant Dean of Engineering Extension within the engineering college at OSU, will be collaborating with ODOT State Research Engineer David Ooten to showcase Oklahoma innovation, create information about each case study and develop an outreach plan for sharing similar stories from Oklahoma.
The Every Day Counts technologies that have been chosen to be featured in this marketing effort include High Friction Surface Treatment (HFST), Road Weather Management, and Safe Transportation for Every Pedestrian (STEP). As part of the project’s focus on HFST, Sisco and Echo-Hawk will seek expertise from CEAT faculty, Kelvin C.P. Wang, Ph.D., P.E. and Joshua Q. Li, Ph.D., regarding their research on 3-D Imaging Based Pavement Surface Evaluation for HFST.
The outreach compilation will be completed by September 30, 2018. Additional photos of the STIC Meeting are available to download in a variety of resolutions on the Tribal Tech Flickr feed at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/karlajs/albums/72157668797255899.
Tribal Tech Initiative - https://tribal-tech.okstate.edu
For more information on the STIC Program, visit https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/innovation/stic/edc4_stic_factsheet.pdf
For more information on Oklahoma STIC, visit https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/innovation/stic/charters/ok.pdf
For more information on the Every Day Counts (EDC) Initiatives, visit https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/innovation/everydaycounts/
For more information on David Ooten, visit https://ok.gov/odot/About_ODOT/Executive_Staff_/David_Ooten,_Strategic_Asset_&_Performang_Mgt..html
Oklahoma State University is a modern land-grant university that prepares students for success. OSU has more than 35,000 students across its five-campus system and more than 24,000 on its combined Stillwater and Tulsa campuses, with students from all 50 states and around 120 nations. Established in 1890, Oklahoma State has graduated more than 240,000 students who have been serving the state of Oklahoma, the nation and the world.
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