Sustainable Transportation

Thursday, September 15, 2011

UB Center for Tomorrow, Amherst Campus, Buffalo, NY, 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
On-site registration and continental breakfast begin at 8:00 a.m.
Presentations run from 8:30 a.m. - noon, followed by a networking lunch.

Twenty-eight percent of U.S. energy consumption supports transportation. A more sustainable transportation sector will include greater efficiencies, alternative sources of energy, implementation of new technology, and a reexamination of our consumption behavior. Understanding and anticipating these trends allows businesses to better plan for the future.

Sustainable transportation involves reexamining the role of public transportation, choice of fuels, efficiency through logistics, and developing an infrastructure that supports a smarter energy future. These changes will reduce the cost of doing business and are necessary to maintain competitiveness. This half day session will provide the attendee perspective on what changes are coming, how fast they will be implemented, and how these will affect business and personal life.

Speakers

Andy Harvey, M.B.A, P.Eng., PMP

Manager of Rapid Transit and Parking, City of Mississauga

Andy has over 24 years experience in the transportation industry and is an active professional engineer. Andy's work experience includes consulting engineering, and positions in both regional and municipal governments. Mississauga is Canada's sixth largest city, and is home to 745,000 residents and 55,000 businesses. Mississauga is committed to innovation, operational excellence and fiscal responsibility. The City is continuing to grow rapidly and is leveraging innovative transportation technologies to help facilitate mobility and environmental responsibility. Andy has been working with the teams planning and developing such infrastructure as bus rapid transit, light rapid transit, a traffic management centre, and various related intelligent transportation system applications. Andy will discuss his role in integrating smart transportation technologies in Mississauga.

Richard Drake

Program Manager, Clean Energy Research and Market Development - Transportation & Power Systems New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA)

Richard Drake is Program Manager for Transportation & Power Systems R&D and oversees a $20 million/year multifaceted energy research program focused on collaborative product development and technology advancement and emerging technology demonstration in the transportation and power systems areas. Programmatic areas of focus include: renewable power generation, energy storage technologies for vehicle and stationary applications, electric vehicles and grid infrastructure, alternative fuel vehicles and infrastructure, innovative transportation systems and demand management programs. Richard will discuss projects and initiatives throughout the state that NYSERDA is involved with and funding opportunities that are available in the transportation sector.

Scott Ernst, P.E.

Director, Business Development
NOCO Energy Corp.

Scott brings nearly twenty years of experience to NOCO Energy from the management consulting, engineering, and construction industries. His roles at NOCO involve corporate business development, strategy development, capital project development, and operations management. He has supervisory and administrative responsibility for the safe and efficient operation of the Tonawanda terminal, the bulk plants and the delivery fleet. Scott along with Jim Newman from NOCO will address the current status of alternate fuels in practice as well as the challenges to developers trying to get new fuels out into the market.

Jim Newman

President, NOCO Energy Corp.

Jim is a third generation principal of the family owned and operated company. Jim's entrepreneurial spirit and extensive experience serves him well as he guides the company. Since assuming the reins of leadership in 2001, NOCO has launched a natural gas and electricity distribution business, invested heavily in the biofuels business, and expanded the geographical footprint East across New York State. Jim along with Scott Ernst from NOCO will address the current status of alternate fuels in practice as well as the challenges to developers trying to get new fuels out into the market.

Adel W. Sadek

Associate Professor, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, University at Buffalo

Dr. Sadek serves as the Director of UB's Transportation Systems Engineering Lab and Acting Chair of UB2020's Strategic Strength in Extreme Events. Dr. Sadek joined UB to lead the development of the department's interdisciplinary program in transportation systems engineering. Dr. Sadek's research interests span a wide range of topics including transportation modeling and simulation, intelligent transportation systems, artificial intelligence applications in transportation, traffic engineering, transportation planning, and infrastructure management. Dr. Sadek's presentation This presentation will first survey recent attempts aimed at defining indicators or performance measures to gauge the extent to which a given transportation system is moving toward "sustainability". The presentation will then proceed to discuss possible strategies or paths toward sustainable transportation and the challenges associated with the implementation of some of those strategies.

Who should attend: CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CTOs, CIOs, and other executives, managers, and decision-makers; researchers, academics, and engineers; purchasing agents; and others involved with or interested in the opportunities resulting from recent innovation.