A team of students from the University of Michigan won top honors at the 2024 Transportation Technology Tournament (TTT) during the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) annual meeting in Philadelphia.
[Above left to right: Nick Ramfos, NOCoE director; Rongyu Shen, University of Michigan; Richard Lee, University of Michigan; Taewhan Ko, University of Michigan; and J.D. Schneeberger, ITS Joint Program Office. Photo via NOCoE.]
Held from July 21-24, the seventh annual TTT is hosted jointly by the National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE) and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) Professional Capacity Building program.
NOCoE is a partnership of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), ITE, and the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, with support from the Federal Highway Administration.
The unique mix of state, local, academic, and private sector representation is a key feature of NOCoE and ensures its ability to provide knowledge resources that effectively advance all aspects of Transportation Systems Management and Operations or TSMO.
[Editor’s note: In the video below, NOCoE Technical Advisory Committee and Strategic Advisory Committee share their perspectives and outlook on the organization and the transportation sector as a whole.]
Developed by the University of Michigan’s team, the tournament’s winning solution leverages data generated by vehicle sensing technologies to improve conflict prediction, reaction, and response in real-time to reduce intersection conflicts between automobiles and vulnerable road users.
The final four student teams in the 2024 TTT contest – a joint squad from Florida International University and Florida Atlantic University, University of Michigan, University of Texas–Arlington, and University of Washington – were flown to Philadelphia to compete. Selected from 14 teams in March, they presented at ITE’s annual meeting on July 22.
Each team had 10 minutes to present their solutions, followed by questions from a panel of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and TSMO specialists. The University of Michigan team was ultimately chosen as the winner during a July 23 session.
The University of Michigan team won the prize not only for their innovative solution but also for their effective communication and presentation. They demonstrated a creative approach to addressing the issue of communities divided and displaced by freeway construction projects in the 1960s.
“I want to extend my congratulations to the University of Michigan for its winning solution to make our roads safer and help vulnerable road users,” said NOCoE Director Nicholas Ramfos.
“In fact, all of the solutions developed by the four student teams competing in this year’s event displayed a high level of ingenuity,” he added. “And that creativity bodes well for the future of the U.S. transportation system as they represent the next generation of mobility engineers.”
For students and schools interested in competing in the 2025 TTT contest, contact Adam Hopps, NOCoE’s technical services and communications director. The solutions developed by all 14 student teams competing in the 2024 TTT contest can be found at: https://transportationops.org/transportation-technology-tournament.
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