UCI Students Present Transportation Engineering Project

UCI ITE studentsJune 8, 2018 - UC Irvine’s student chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) earned second place in the Annual ITE SoCal/Orange County Traffic Engineers Council Student Presentation Night, May 16, at the Knott’s Berry Farm Hotel.

The Samueli School civil and environmental engineering presenters - Enrique Ortiz, Yana Loginova, Julia Milano and Mareeya Tongkul - explained their chapter project to a panel of judges and competed against five other Southern California universities. The project, conducted in collaboration with the city of Anaheim, was to test the interoperability and readiness of new technology for use in connected vehicles. The UCI student chapter, a group of 22 students, met as a class for over a year under the guidance of Stephen Ritchie, professor and director of the Institute of Transportation Studies, to complete the effort.

“Congratulations are due to the whole UCI ITE Student Chapter for their dedication to this cutting-edge project, and especially to our outstanding presenters,” said Ritchie.   

Specifically, the students worked in groups and used their own vehicles to test several types of technology as they drove through 15 designated intersections in Anaheim. The equipment consisted of on-board units (OBUs) and roadside units (RSUs). The RSUs connect to the roadside control cabinet of a traffic signal, and the OBUs are installed in the vehicles and connect to a human-machine interface (in this case, a tablet) in the vehicle. The RSU communicates with the OBU and provides alerts to drivers of the light’s status: green, yellow or red[ALS1] . The goal of the technology is ultimately to enhance safer driver behavior, reduce red light violations and facilitate eco-driving  to save energy and reduce emissions. The students found that the technologies had great potential but also currently some incompatibilities among units that were manufactured by different companies.

UCI’s students competed against Cal Poly Pomona (first place) and UCLA (third place). Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Fullerton and USC all received honorable mentions.

“I’m really glad I took this course,” said Milano, who graduates in June and already has a job lined up as a transportation engineer for a civil engineering company in Santa Ana. “We gained a lot of real-life experience in the field and were able to interact with transportation engineers. It was great working with John Thai, principal traffic engineer from the city of Anaheim, and Professor Ritchie.”

The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), an international educational and scientific association, is one of the largest and fastest-growing professional transportation organizations in the world. ITE members include engineers, planners and other transportation professionals who are responsible for meeting society’s needs for safe and efficient surface transportation.

– Lori Brandt

 


 [ALS1]Why? Because they can’t see the traffic light? I guess I don’t get it. Now if the technology could make a red light turn green as you approach, THAT would be awesome ;-)