User and Machine: Secrets to a Harmonious Marriage
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Donald L. Fisher, PhD
Principal Technical Advisor, Engineering Research Psychologist, Volpe, U.S. DOT
Professor and Former Head, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Automation in the field of transportation is everywhere. Have we as humans become an afterthought? We order service on our smartphones (paratransit and Uber), we maneuver around in increasingly automated vehicles, we ride in driverless transport (airport shuttles), and we will increasingly find ourselves sharing our highways and byways with drones and other unmanned craft.
However, like all good marriages, the parties must listen to one another, must be transparent about their desires, and must learn from their mistakes.
What do the lessons of a good marriage between two people bring to our understanding of how best to marry user and machine?
Donald Fisher, PhD, will explore these questions in Volpe's newest thought leadership series, Beyond Traffic 2045: Reimagining Transportation. This series will inform the ongoing national dialogue on Beyond Traffic, U.S. DOT’s 30-year framework for the future.
Attend the Event
Join us via webinar or in person.
About the Speaker
Dr. Donald Fisher joined the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the fall of 1982. He became the head of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering in 2009 and served in that capacity until August of 2015.
Over the past two years, he has served as a faculty fellow at Volpe and was recently appointed as a principal technical advisor in the Surface Transportation Human Factors Division.
Dr. Fisher is the principal investigator or co-principal investigator on over $23 million in research funding including grants from the federal, state, and regional governments; private and public foundations; and private industry.
He is editor of the recently published Handbook of Driving Simulation for Engineering, Medicine, and Psychology and has over 300 scientific publications.
Read more about Donald Fisher.
About Volpe's Beyond Traffic 2045: Reimagining Transportation series:
What will transportation look like 10, 20, or 30 years from now? Be part of Volpe’s newest speaker series—Beyond Traffic 2045: Reimagining Transportation—to delve into the trends that will transform transportation.
This series will continue the conversation started by Beyond Traffic, the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) framework for a frank discussion about the shape, size, and condition of our transportation system.
Beyond Traffic 2045: Reimagining Transportation will kick off September 18 with a special video introduction from U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, followed by opening remarks from Gregory D. Winfree, DOT Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology.
Speakers and Dates
The following speakers will bring to Volpe their unique perspectives on how transportation will change over the coming decades:
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Andrew McAfee, PhD, principal research scientist and co-founder of the Initiative on the Digital Economy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and co-author of The Second Machine Age
Friday, September 18, 2015
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Edward L. Bolton Jr., assistant administrator for NextGen, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. DOT
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
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Donald L. Fisher, PhD, principal technical advisor, engineering research psychologist, at Volpe, U.S. DOT, and professor and former head of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
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John A. Cavolowsky, PhD, director of the Airspace Operations and Safety Program at the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
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John B. Heywood, PhD, professor of mechanical engineering and Sun Jae Professor, Emeritus, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Thursday, November 5, 2015
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Harry Lightsey, executive director of Global Connected Customer at General Motors
Thursday, November 12, 2015
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Kaigham (Ken) J. Gabriel, PhD, president and CEO of The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
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Anthony Townsend, PhD, senior research scientist at New York University, fellow at the Data and Society Research Institute, and author of Smart Cities: Big Data, Civic Hackers, and the Quest for a New Utopia
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
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Chris Urmson, director of the Self-Driving Car Program at Google
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Complex Transportation Challenges
Our transportation system faces unprecedented challenges:
- In the next 30 years, the U.S. population is expected to grow by more than 20 percent to 390 million people.
- The specific transportation needs of people over age 65 will become more pressing, as that age group will increase by nearly 80 percent in the coming decades.
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Our population is shifting to the south, to the west, and to 11 megaregions that represent more than 75 percent of our population and employment. - Our economy is also growing, with some forecasts anticipating future growth rates at 115 percent. As the American economy grows, the amount of freight moving across our transportation network will increase significantly, along with the global demand for products from the U.S.
- At the same time, our climate is changing. The frequency of super storms, higher temperatures, and higher sea levels will all present complex challenges.
What does a safer, more resilient, and more efficient transportation system look like? What will this mean for the nation and society?
Bring your imaginations and join us via webinar or in person for this important discussion.
Remember to regularly check our Events page and Twitter feed[external link] for updates on speakers, dates, and topics.
- See more at: http://www.volpe.dot.gov/events/reimagining-transportation-speaker-series#sthash.bCnkWjFV.dpuf
- October 07, 2015 at 12:00pm – 1pm
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Volpe, The National Transportation Systems Center U.S. Department of Transportation
55 Broadway Kendall Sq
Cambridge, MA 02142
United States
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