VTTI25

2006 The National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence is formally awarded to VTTI through the Federal Highway Administration. Sen. John Warner attends the dedication.

beyond 2013 VTTI is conducting research into the greatest transportation challenges of the future, includ ing automated and connected vehicles.

2005 VTTI is designated as a Center for Excellence in the 2005 transportation bill Safe, Accountable, Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).

2009 The VTTI Center for Injury Biomechanics brings online the crash sled laboratory, resulting in research awards nearing $5 million.

2002 VTTI tops $8.6 million in research expenditures. The Institute begins to conduct the largest data collection effort to date: the 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study.

2011 The National Tire Research Center is launched with $2 mil lion in equipment expenditures towards a state-of-the-art tire development and testing system to be located in the Virginia Inter national Raceway Motorsports Technology Park in Alton, Va.

2001 The Smart Road is dedicated on May 30. Institute researchers begin transforming Blacksburg into the first instrumented city in the United States. The project is designed to monitor traffic flow, traffic safety, noise, and air pollution.

2007 VTTI proposal awards received jump by 231 percent over Fis cal Year 2006. VTTI refines the next generation data acquisi tion system (DAS) to collect real-world driving information. VTTI is named the prime con tractor for the planning phase of the 2,500-Car Naturalistic Driving Study, which will total $30 million in funding.

2013 Dingus is named a White House Champion of Change in the field of transportation. VTTI spear heads the opening of the Virginia Connected Test Bed in Fairfax, Va., and the National Tire Re search Center officially begins tire testing operations. The Insti tute now comprises more than 350 faculty, staff, and students and has more than $43 million in research expenditures.

VTTI 25

• 21