Job Alert: Lead Research General Engineer – Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) – McLean, Virginia

June 29, 2015 at 6:10 pm

This position is for the Team Leader of the Transportation Enabling Technologies Team in the Office of Operations Research and Development (R&D). The incumbent specializes in research management, the conduct of exploratory advanced research related to advanced traffic management and operations systems, and the development of transportation enabling technologies.

The ideal candidate will have strong transportation or transportation-related R&D experience with advanced degrees in one or more of the following enabling technology areas (listed in alphabetical order): civil engineering; computer science; cyber-physical systems; electrical engineering; mathematics/statistics; mechanical engineering; real-time data capture, management, and analytics; software engineering; or, systems engineering. He/she is a thought leader at the national and international levels and has been recognized for past scientific and engineering contributions in the development and application of transportation operations, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), or connected-automated vehicle technologies. He/she will have experience in managing a team of research professionals and conducting laboratory and field research in the fields of transportation operations, ITS, or connected-automated vehicles. The ideal candidate has expert experience facilitating the development, implementation, and/or evaluation of national technologies, policies, programs, and budgets in a research environment, and has experience communicating this knowledge, orally and in writing, to a variety of audiences.

You will be requested to do a presentation and complete a writing sample as part of the interview process.

TRAVEL REQUIRED

  • Occasional Travel
  • Occasional Travel is required less than 25%

KEY REQUIREMENTS

  • You must be a U.S. citizen & meet specialized experience to qualify.
  • Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date.
  • Review Required Documents Section as documents are required by closing date
  • Job announcement may be used to fill similar positions within 30 days.
  • Announcement also advertised merit promotion: FHWA.HRT-2015-0001

DUTIES:

As a Lead Research General Engineer, you will:

  • Demonstrate classic management knowledge, skills, and abilities in leading change, leading people, being results driven, demonstrating business acumen, building coalitions, and demonstrating and promoting excellence in oral and written communications.
  • Provide expert knowledge in traffic engineering and transportation management theory specializing in one or more of the following areas: signal systems, communications, surveillance and detection, data management, cyber-physical systems, and modeling and simulation of the impacts of hardware, software, standards, and operating practices on mobility, safety, environment, energy, and other performance areas.
  • Plan, develop, coordinate, and conduct a research and development program in traffic operations and traffic management to produce transportation enabling technologies in areas such as transportation data collection and management; cyber-physical systems, sensing systems; wireless communications; connected and automated vehicle technologies; and positioning, navigation and timing.
  • Lead the planning and conduct of a national program of research by means of partner and customer inclusion and through active liaison, collaboration, and coordination with other FHWA offices, Federal agencies, state and local highway agencies, AASHTO, TRB, ITS America, ITE, IEEE, SAE consortia, user groups, universities, private industry, and the highway community in general.
  • Work closely with Office of Operations, Resource Center, and other FHWA offices, as well as with state highway agencies to translate and transfer the team’s research and development results to the highway community and to assure that research products are marketed and deployed as rapidly as possible.
  • Represent FHWA nationally and internationally to initiate technical exchange, recommend international partnerships that are potentially beneficial to FHWA and the US Department of Transportation, and coordinates U.S. research and development with foreign countries under the auspices of TRB and through the International Programs Office and interagency agreements.
  • Use essential leadership skills to enhance team productivity and commitment to research products and services that contribute to the strategic goals and objectives of the agency
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European Automotive Industry Outlines R&D Priorities for EU Green Car Initiative

May 8, 2009 at 12:42 am

(Source: Green Car Congress & Newspress, UK)

European automotive suppliers and vehicle manufacturers have united to submit a series of R&D priorities to the European Commission to shape the European Green Car Initiative (EGCI), announced by the EU. CLEPA (the European umbrella membership organization representing the interests of the global automotive supply industry) and EUCAR (the European Council for Automotive R&D from the major European passenger car and commercial vehicle manufacturers) jointly prepared the document.

The Green Car Initiative, a part of the European economic recovery plan, aims to allocate €5 billion (US$6.7 billion) through a Public Private Partnership to bolster innovation in the automotive sector and sustain its focus on environmental progress. The initiative complements the European Clean Transport Facility which, through the European Investment Bank, serves to provide more immediate financial relief to the sector.

The Green Car Initiative concentrates on long-term R&D, largely combining existing projects under a clear policy focus and underlining the importance of a joint approach between industries and policy makers. The CLEPA and EUCAR document is intended to harmonize the R&D directions and priorities of the auto industry, and then to communicate these to relevant authorities and bodies at national and EU level and to other key partners. The scope of the document is adapted and narrowed to the domain of the EGCI, and it does not claim to cover the broad spectrum of automotive and transport R&D.

The R&D domain in the document is structured into four major areas:

  • Mobility and Transport (deploying information and communication technologies (ICT) and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) for traffic and transport management, involving vehicles as well as route planning).
  • Energy and Environment (exploring primary energy sources which are renewable, secure, sufficient and environmentally compatible; the electrification of vehicles and the road transport system as a whole; lightweight structures and new vehicle concepts for high energy-efficiency).
  • Safety (ensuring safety of new vehicle concepts and types; development of cooperative systems for efficiency and safety based on communication between vehicles and infrastructure).
  • Affordability and Competitiveness (achieving green objectives at an affordable level, taking into account the availability and use of raw and rare materials; (energy-) efficiency of production processes; handling of alternative materials; use of virtual tools).

All of these areas are equally important and none of them can be considered independent from the others, the organizations note.

Click here to read the entire article.  Here is a copy of the full report in PDF.