SwRI’s Dr. Steve Dellenback joins USDOT’s Transforming Transportation Advisory Committee

Credit: Courtesy of SwRI

San Antonio – January 9, 2024 – Southwest Research Institute’s Dr. Steve Dellenback, vice president of the Intelligent Systems Division, will join the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transforming Transportation Advisory Committee (TTAC).

The USDOT recently announced the launch of the committee and its 27 members who represent a diverse spectrum of perspectives from academia, think tanks, the public sector, labor and industry. TTAC will provide expertise and insights, covering a broad range of topics such as automation, cybersecurity, safety, accessibility, law, government, entrepreneurship, equity and more. Dellenback and other TTAC members will serve two-year terms in unpaid, advisory positions.

“I am proud to serve on this committee — which seeks to answer important questions about improving safety and advancing mobility on roadways — as SwRI has a long history of developing and deploying advanced technology in the transportation domain,” Dellenback said. “The focus is: How can technology be used to enhance America’s transportation infrastructure moving forward?”

In a prepared statement announcing the committee, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, “The deep expertise and diverse perspectives of this impressive group will provide advice to ensure the future of transportation is safe, efficient, sustainable, equitable and transformative.

TTAC members do not represent their companies and organizations but serve as independent sources of information to the government. TTAC will hold its first meeting on January 18. The committee was established to develop solutions aimed at:

• Pathways to safe, secure, equitable, environmentally friendly and accessible deployments of emerging technologies
• Integrated approaches to promote greater cross-modal integration of emerging technologies, particularly applications to deploy automation
• Policies that encourage innovation to grow and support a safe and productive U.S. workforce, as well as foster economic competitiveness and job quality
• Approaches and frameworks that encourage the secure exchange and sharing of transformative transportation data, technologies and infrastructure, across the public and private sectors that can guide core policy decisions across USDOT’s strategic goals
• Ways the USDOT can identify and elevate cybersecurity solutions and protect privacy across transportation systems and infrastructure
• Other emerging issues, topics and technologies

“We will be providing cybersecurity and connected and automated vehicle expertise as enterprise software and infrastructure face new challenges as well as many great opportunities,” Dellenback said. “As technology in transportation and mobility advances, data proliferates. Protecting that data will be an important cybersecurity activity.”

Dellenback has over 39 years of experience in systems design, integration, operating systems, artificial intelligence, programming languages and project management. He holds a Ph.D. and master’s degree in computer science from the University of Kansas and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin.

As vice president of SwRI’s Intelligent Systems Division, Dellenback directs approximately 270 research and development staff, the majority holding advanced degrees in computer science, mechanical engineering, computer engineering or electrical engineering.

His division supports clients spanning deep sea to deep space with expertise in developing intelligent transportation systems (ITS), advanced traffic management systems (ATMS), connected automated vehicles (CAVs), cyber security, data solutions, intelligent infrastructure and more.

For more information, visit SwRI’s https://www.swri.org/industries/intelligent-transportation-systems page or read the USDOT statement here.

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About SwRI:

SwRI is an independent, nonprofit, applied research and development organization based in San Antonio, Texas, with more than 3,100 employees and an annual research volume of nearly $844 million. Southwest Research Institute and SwRI are registered marks in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. For more information, please visit www.swri.org.