ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 14, 1995 TAG: 9512140042
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
After a yearlong search, Virginia Tech has hired a scholar from Iowa to lead its study of the brains behind the proposed "smart" highway.
Thomas Dingus will become director of the university's Center for Transportation Research on Jan. 1. He earned a doctorate in industrial engineering and operations research from Tech in 1987.
"It's a very good fit for us here generally at the transportation center and at Virginia Tech," said Ray Pethtel, who has served as interim director for 13 months.
One of the major areas the center has been focusing on is human factors in transportation, Pethtel said. And human factors - the study of how people interact with machines - is one of Dingus' specialities. He has conducted research on intelligent transportation systems since 1984 and will be bringing an ongoing project on vehicle instrumentation from Iowa to Tech, Pethtel said.
Dingus, associate director of the Center for Computer-Aided Design at the University of Iowa, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Len Peters, Tech's vice provost for research, praised Dingus for his "specific knowledge and a broad range of experience" in a news release issued Wednesday by the university.
Tech's center is researching various aspects of intelligent transportation systems, including automated highway systems - the concept of "hands-off, feet-off" driving by computer-controlled cars speeding along so-called smart highways, which automatically would feed safety and road-condition data to the cars.
One of the three publicly stated purposes behind the proposed 5.8-mile smart road between Blacksburg and Interstate 81 is to serve as a laboratory for technology on intelligent transportation systems. The others are to help relieve U.S. 460 congestion in Christiansburg, and to provide a more direct link between Blacksburg and Roanoke.
According to a summary provided by Tech, Dingus' ITS research on intelligent transportation systems has included developing the first comprehensive analysis of the safety and utility of an advanced in-vehicle navigation system; evaluation of the potential benefits of advanced crash-avoidance systems; and work toward the design and operation test of a traveler information system in the Orlando, Fla., area. He has received more than $4 million in research sponsorship from the government and private industry, Tech said.
Tech's Center for Transportation Research has a $3 million annual budget and has $3.2 million in current research commitments related to the smart highway. It has projected research commitments of $7.3 million through 1997.
Pethtel also announced Wednesday that the center was in final negotiations for a $300,000 contract with the I-95 Corridor Coalition to research a low-cost emergency "Mayday" system for interstate travelers.
Pethtel, a public administrator, not an academic, will remain a university transportation fellow and Tech's spokesman for the smart highway project. Tech hired him in 1994 after he had served eight years as state transportation commissioner. His initial two-year contract with the university was extended this year until 1997.
Dingus replaces Antoine Hobeika, who led the transportation center from its 1988 founding until a year ago, when he resigned in the wake of embezzlement allegations. Those allegations never have been publicly resolved by the state attorney general's office, which received the results of an investigation by the state police a year ago.
Hobeika's lawyer, Roberts Moore, said two weeks ago that the case against his client had been proven false and dropped. A spokesman for the attorney general declined comment. Moore said Wednesday that he has received no new information from the state.
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