July 2019
Gator ITE Wins District Traffic Bowl Championship
The Gator ITE Student Chapter's traffic bowl team recently won the district Traffic Bowl Championship and will continue on to compete for the international title at the ITE International Meeting in Austin, TX.
The winning team included the following students: Corbin Kramer, Asean Davis, Christian Breault, and Luan Guilherme. Ashkan Omidvar, Ph.D student, who served as the team advisor, said:
"At district level, our team had to face the international traffic bowl defending champion team to qualify for the international round. However, the team was motivated and willing to take on any challenge to achieve their goal." 
In addition to the student chapter competition, the Gator ITE students also won the "challenge the professionals" event, competing against two teams comprised of industry professionals.
Five members of the Gator ITE student chapter posing with their trophy for winning the District Traffic Bowl
Members of the Gator ITE student chapter team pictured with their first place trophy.
McTrans Director Bill Sampson Teaches Traffic Engineering to Kids
The back of students' heads while they look on to computer screens
Bill Sampson, McTrans Director, presented on Traffic Engineering to students as a guest lecturer during the "Engineering in the Virtual World" event led by UF civil engineering alumnus Cody Impton.
In this session, students learned some of the most important concepts used in traffic engineering such as traffic flow, capacity, delay, speed and density as implemented in the Highway Capacity Software (HCS7).
After the presentation students were taught the basics of HCS7 provided by McTrans for this program. Students worked in teams to compare and contrast Roundabouts and All Way Stop Control intersections. The teams were able to analyze how varying volumes and input parameters resulted in different levels of service for the intersections. They also learned how the program uses math to complete the analysis. 
UFTI SURF Student Zachary Jerome
Headshot of Zachary Jerome
Zachary Jerome from the University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville, is the UFTI's 2019 Summer Undergraduate Research at Florida (SURF) student. He is currently working on two projects under the guidance of Dr. Lily Elefteriadou: 1) "Autonomous Vehicles at Intelligent Intersections and Advanced Networks" funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and 2) "Highway Capacity Manual Methodologies for Corridors Involving Freeways and Surface Streets," funded by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP).
On the topic of transportation engineering, this is what Zachary had to say:

"Throughout my life, I have always loved to travel and have been fascinated by the different modes and infrastructure that make up our transportation system. At UT, I am involved with transportation research under Dr. Asad Khattak, and this experience has solidified my desire to specialize in transportation engineering. I am interested in how human behavior and decision making influence transportation development, particularly how humans will interact with autonomous vehicles in mixed traffic environments. I hope to improve our transportation systems through an understanding of how humans and technology behave and make choices. "
UFTI to Exhibit and Host Poster Session at AVS Conference
The UFTI will have an exhibit at the Automated Vehicles Symposium conference related to I-STREET, a real-world testbed in Gainesville, FL, developed in a collaboration with the City of Gainesville and the Florida Department of Transportation. The exhibit will showcase research and implementation of advanced transportation technologies including autonomous and connected vehicles, and the work of UF students and faculty and their partners. Additionally, the UFTI will be hosting a STRIDE-sponsored UTC Poster Session on Tuesday, July 16, at the conference. A total of 22 posters will be presented focusing on AV, CV, and other advanced technologies in transportation.
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