CONTENTS
SMART NEWS
SMART Receives Alcoa Grant to Focus on Beijing & Detroit Regions
SMART Post Doc Fellowship Grant thanks to MMPEI’s “PISET”
Ford Motor Company Renews Support For SMART
Student Work-Study positions available for 2011/2012
SMART Welcomes First “SMART Fellow” Dr. Jonathan Feldman
Graham Institute Community Planning Grants Call
Transforming Transportation Power Points now available online
NOT TO BE MISSED EVENTS AND IMPORTANT DATES
September 20: Dr. Jonathan Feldman Visiting Scholar from Sweden on industry development and green jobs around transit and rail in Michigan. 6:30 pm, Taubman College Auditorium U-M Ann Arbor
September 22-23: Upstate Transportation Forum: Transforming Communities through Creative Collaboration, Ithaca, NY
October 16 – 20: 18th World Congress On Intelligent Transportation Systems “Keeping the Economy Moving,” Orlando Florida
October 18-19: InnoMobility Global Conference, Greensville S.C.
October 22-24: World Congress on Mobility for Sustainable Cities, Changwon, Republic of Korea
November 1-5: International Conference on Urban Health, Belo Horizonte City, Brazil
SMART AT LARGE
ABOUT SMART
Welcome to April’s SMART e-News!
SMART NEWS
Dear friends of SMART. It’s been a while since our last e-news, largely because so much has been happening. See below for a (not exhaustive) report on some selected highlights and activities of SMART and partners. Meanwhile we hope you’ve had a wonderful summer and wish you a very productive and sustainable September. Please be in touch (susanz@umich.edu) if you’d like to know more about or be involved with any of the projects and research below.
SMART Receives Alcoa Foundation Grant to Focus on Beijing and Detroit Regions
The Alcoa Foundation has provided a $250,000 grant to support SMART in developing and applying practical solutions to the challenges of sustainable transportation in the Detroit and Beijing regions. SMART is now part of Alcoa Foundation’s $4 million Advancing Sustainability Research: Innovative Partnerships for Actionable Solutions initiative that funds 10 global sustainability research projects in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Russia and the United States.
The project will marry knowledge and action on sustainable transportation and related sustainable economic development in two cities that are vastly different and yet face challenges and opportunities that might offer wider lessons for advancing sustainable transportation in other regions and communities around the world.
The projected outcomes of the SMART initiative are to:
Mobilize a diverse partnership base required to collectively describe, develop and apply practical and integrated solutions.
Uncover new data and conceptual frameworks: technical, behavioral, economic and policy-focused.
Pilot innovations, enhancements and communications approaches that will improve transportation connectivity and sustainability in the Beijing and Detroit regions.
In addition to SMART, the Advancing Sustainability Research: Innovative Partnerships for Actionable Solutions initiative includes other partners in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe and Russia working on solutions related to Wetlands, Life Cycle Assessment, Voluntary Emissions Reduction and NGO Participation, Energy and Environmental Economics, Lightweight Materials and Design, and more. Over the course of two years, partners will create and leverage this sustainability research, as well as provide opportunities to develop and share solutions worldwide. For more information about Alcoa Foundation, go to: www.alcoa.com/foundation.
SMART Post Doctoral Research Fellowship Grant Soon Available Thanks to MMPEI’s “PISET” Program
SMART has won support for a one year Post-Doc position (with potential for one year extension) from the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute’s (MMPEI) Partnerships for Innovation in Sustainable Energy Technologies (PISET) program (see energy.umich.edu/funding-opportunities/funding/university-of-michigan-funding). This fall’s awards represent the second round of PISET funding, which supports the appointment of a MMPEI research fellow to do research that bridges traditional disciplines to offer a better understanding of sustainable energy science, technology, or policy.
The Post Doc will support the “Consumer Uptake of Seamless Multi-Modal Mobility” work led by Richard Gonzalez and David Chock, with a particular emphasis on energy and sustainability implications. It is a two-year study to understand how providing integrated multi-modal transportation and related real time information systems about door-to-door mobility impacts consumers’ mode choice and affects sustainability. As mobile internet systems become available, it is now possible to establish a real-time information and forecast system that enhances physical connectivity among modes and services, and supports travelers in making informed decisions, which in turn enables the establishment of the next-generation mobility grid. New behavior-based mode choice models will be developed incorporating revealed- and stated-preference information applied to specific regions, to be followed by a forecast in subsequent impacts on greenhouse-gas emissions. The regions of interest in this study include major cities in the U.S. and China. We are happy to announce that Dr. David Hung of SJTU University in Shanghai has joined the research team to focus on the work in China.
The formal call for the Post Doc position will be released in the near future. For more information on the Consumer Uptake study contact Sue Zielinski at susanz@umich.edu.
Ford Motor Company Renews Support For SMART for 2011/2012
Ford Motor Company has been a deeply valued (and invaluable) ongoing partner and sponsor of SMART since 2005. Without Ford, the many SMART Living Lab collaborations around the world—and all that SMART and partners have learned and gained from them about more sustainable and equitable transportation systems, livable communities, new innovations, new markets, new business models, and green jobs—would not have been possible. SMART extends deep thanks to David Berdish, John Viera, Sue Cischke, William Clay Ford Junior, and all the members of the Ford community who have been pivotal to SMART’s evolution since 2005 for renewing the commitment.
Student Work-Study positions available for 2011/2012
Every year SMART is fortunate to engage top-notch Work-Study students to work on SMART Projects and research during the academic year (see profiles of last year’s SMART work team at um-smart.org/people_partners/students). This year’s postings include a variety of positions that will support one or more of the following:
- Partnership and pilot development for SMART’s Michigan-based sustainable transportation and economic development initiative: Connect and Prosper (see um-smart.org/connect-prosper).
- Web and Social Media Development and Design for SMART (see website, blog, and networking site at current state – um-smart.org and um-smart.org/blog and smartumich.ning.com).
- Project on New Business Models for New Mobility Solutions for the Urban Poor in India, South Africa, Brazil & the Philippines.
- Development of SMART entrepreneurs’ network and SMART business network – research, network development and meetings.
- Development and co-ordination of SMART Global City Network (Living Labs).
- Research on Consumer Uptake of Seamless Multi-Modal Mobility.
Postings can be found at: www.studentemployment.umich.edu/cmx_content.aspx?cpid=11
SMART Welcomes First “SMART Fellow” Dr. Jonathan Feldman
SMART DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES WELCOMES
DR. JONATHAN MICHAEL FELDMAN, STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY and
SMART FELLOW, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Tuesday September 20, 2011, 6:30 pm, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning Auditorium, 2000 Bonisteel Boulevard
, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2069 USA
Free of Charge, Coffee and Snacks to Follow
The National, Regional and Institutional Foundations for Green Jobs:
The Case of Rail-Based Mass Transit Manufacturing
With increasing national attention being paid to both job creation and manufacturing, activists, planners and politicians have promoted “green jobs” as a way to confront the economic, environmental and energy supply crises. Major cutbacks in defense spending may also create incentives to diversifying into mass transit, as happened during the post-Vietnam period and presidency of Jimmy Carter. In 1892, the Michigan-Peninsular Car Co. emerged as the largest single manufacturer of rolling stock in the United States. Walter Reuther, Governor William G. Milliken, Phil Power, Robert Goodman and Michael Moore are some of the people who have either advocated Michigan or the auto industry’s diversification into mass transit.
Yet, despite the hopes for more manufacturing and green jobs from the Obama Administration, news reports and government data show the former in decline and relatively few green jobs. Despite the promise, the advocacy of green jobs has often involved a rhetorical stance not always grounded in either the material reality of firms or the unique constellation of factors that make such job creation more or less likely in specific sectors or regions. Visiting professor Jonathan M. Feldman, Associate Professor at the Department of Economic History at Stockholm University, and U-M SMART Fellow, has engaged in extensive studies of mass transit producers. He will explain some of the key factors underlying success and failure within firms and regions trying to promote mass transit manufacturing.
About Jonathan Feldman
Dr. Feldman has studied factors influencing mass transit manufacturing in the United States, Canada, Sweden, South Korea and Japan. His transit manufacturing research has been discussed in The New York Times and published by The American Prospect, the International Labour Organization and a compendium on post Cold War economics. His research examines innovative platforms that support transportation technologies and manufacturing. The purpose of his study is to investigate how to promote green jobs and manufacturing by examining the case of the mass transportation, with a focus on different kinds of rolling stock (trains). Using the case of the subway manufacturing sector, Feldman’s research examines: (a) why domestic U.S. manufacturing declined, (b) the rise of foreign-based transnational suppliers into the U.S. market and an associated domestic content regime, and (c) potential and actual strategies to promote domestic production. He is also studying how light rail markets and supporting spatial planning has emerged in Portland, Stockholm and London. In Michigan, Feldman is particularly interested in potential synergies between mass transit markets and the larger automobile supplier chain and workforce, how companies developed new innovations, products, and strategies supporting U.S.-anchored jobs.
Making the Connection
Jonathan Feldman will be in Michigan (based in Ann Arbor) until September 26th. Please join us on September 20th for his presentation and the discussion to follow. If you can’t make it on the 20th, you can contact him at jonathanmfeldman@gmail.com.
Graham Institute Call for Community Planning Grants Due Oct 31
The Graham Institute invites you to submit a planning grant application (due October 31, 2011) for a proposed Integrated Assessment (IA) on Advancing Livable Communities through Sustainable Transportation.
The IA will bring together researchers, stakeholders, and decision-makers to develop common analytical approaches, data sets, tools, and policies for relevant sustainable transportation and livable community interventions. This holistic view incorporates a wide range of policies and strategies including sustainable transportation initiatives, land-use planning, economic development, communications and telecommunications, technology, environmental protection, health promotion, and more.
Integrated Assessment Planning Grant Request for Proposals
An effective IA in this context first requires identifying innovative efforts and partners willing to collaborate. To support this work, the Graham Institute will fund at least five planning grants at $20,000 each. The planning grant work should focus on the feasibility of conducting a place-based analysis of a particular set of interventions that will contribute to the IA. Planning grants will last for six months and run concurrently between November 30, 2011 and May 31, 2012.
RFP RELEASE DATE: September 1, 2011
DEADLINE FOR LETTERS OF INTENT: October 11, 2011
DEADLINE FOR RECEIVING GRANT PROPOSALS: October 31, 2011
ANNOUNCEMENT OF AWARDS: November 30, 2011
How to Apply
Specific information about the required application materials is in the Request for Proposals (RFP). Download the following documents:
Advancing Livable Communities through Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant RFP
Proposal Approval Form (Word Version) (PDF Version)
Please note: As described in the RFP, a Letter of Intent is required and must be e-mailed to jcallew@umich.edu by October 11, 2011. Submit your proposal via this online application. For more information, please contact: John Callewaert, Graham Institute Integrated Assessment Program Director, (734) 615-3752 or jcallew@umich.edu.
Online Application:
Due October 31, 2011
(Letter of Intent Due October 11, 2011)
Transforming Transportation Power Points now available online
Last year SMART had the great pleasure and opportunity to represent U-M in collaboration with Michigan State University and Wayne State University in establishing the Transforming Transportation Research Corridor Consortium (ttrcc.org) as part of the University Research Corridor initiative (urcmich.org). Last April TTRCC hosted its inaugural summit (many thanks to friends of SMART who attended and helped make it a success!) and from all accounts all manner of spinoffs – both research and projects — are underway. Power points from presentations at the summit are now available on the TTRCC site at www.ttrcc.org/Summit/Program/Presentations.aspx. Watch future editions of SMART e-news for video footage links and summaries of summit outcomes and spinoffs.
NOT TO MISS EVENTS AND IMPORTANT DATES
September 20: Dr. Jonathan Feldman Visiting Scholar from Sweden on industry development and green jobs around transit and rail in Michigan. 6:30 pm, Taubman College Auditorium U-M Ann Arbor
For more information
September 22-23: Upstate Transportation Forum: Transforming Communities through Creative Collaboration
Use your local resources to collaborate for transportation success, even in a tight economy.
The Forum will explore examples from Tompkins County and across Upstate New York to inspire your next partnership. Municipalities, institutions, transportation and economic development agencies, businesses and others at local, regional, and state levels will bring home new ideas and action steps
Don’t miss the keynote luncheon with presentation by Susan Zielinski, Managing Director of SMART.
Session topics at the Upstate Transportation Forum will include:
Carsharing Basics: Make it Happen
Get the Gorilla to Work for You: Collaborating with Large Employers
Transforming Community Habits: Approaching your Resources Differently
Solutions on a Shoestring: Using your Local Talent and Resources
Show Off Your Unique Place with a Community Partnership
Sharing the Space: Making Room for Active Transportation
Communicating to the Public, Policy Makers, and Funders
Land Use Impacts on Resource Use and Transportation
For more information, see events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e3xi0l55bad34df6&llr=tjbp4tcab
October 16-20: 18th World Congress On Intelligent Transportation Systems “Keeping the Economy Moving,” Orlando Florida
The Intelligent Transportation Society of America, ERTICO-ITS Europe, and ITS Asia-Pacific invite you to join the world’s leading transportation policy makers, technology, and business professionals in Orlando, Florida, from October 16-20, 2011 for the 18th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, which will also feature ITS America’s Annual Meeting & Exposition. SMART principals Peter Sweatman and Sue Zielinski will attend and present. Peter Sweatman is on the board of directors of ITS America. For more information, go to: www.itsworldcongress.org.
October 18-19: InnoMobility Global Conference, Greensville S.C.
Greenville, S.C. – If you are interested in discovering and developing new business opportunities aimed at transforming mobility worldwide, then don’t miss the opportunity to engage in a global mobility conversation at the InnoMobility 2011 Global Conference.
Participants will explore transformative mobility products and enabling technologies from companies including Michelin North America, Sage Automotive Interiors, BMW, GE, and Boeing, and a variety of entrepreneurial firms including Proterra and Aeronix. Areas to be discussed and explored include:
• Innovative vehicle design and manufacturing
• Sustainable materials and energy
• Connectivity and information technologies
• Transportation infrastructure such as roads, fueling stations and smart grids.
“InnoMobility is a distinctive conference because it offers businesses and entrepreneurs the opportunity to connect with the ‘what’s next’ of emerging ideas and trends in mobility,” said John Warner, founder of InnoMobility. “The conference and online community provides attendees access to cutting-edge opportunities that they would otherwise not be exposed to while connecting them with influential people. It’s not a secret that surrounding yourself with smart people teaches you new things—and this conference delivers just that.”
The conference will be held at the TD Convention Center in Greenville, S.C., from Oct. 18-19, 2011. Confirmed keynote presenters include:
• Jay Baron, president and CEO, Center for Automotive Research, Ann Arbor, Mich.
• Gordon Feller, director of urban innovation, Cisco Systems, San Francisco, Calif.
• Kal Gyimesi, automotive leader, IBM Institute for Business Value, Richmond, Va.
• Anthony Jannarelly, iMo concept designer and Michelin Challenge Design 2010 finalist, France
• Rich Steinberg, electric vehicle operations and strategy manager, BMW North America
• Susan Zielinski, managing director, Sustainable Mobility & Accessibility Research & Transformation, University of Michigan.
Prior to the global conference, a community forum will be held at the Carroll A. Campbell Graduate Engineering Center Auditorium on the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research campus in Greenville on August 19.
InnoMobility is actively seeking high-impact opportunity presentations on emerging technologies in these focus areas: Innovative vehicle design and manufacturing, sustainable materials and energy, information technology and connectivity, and transportation infrastructure such as roads, fueling stations and smart grids. By presenting your opportunity to the online community or live at the InnoMobility Conference, you can attract the customers, capital, talent and technology you need to succeed. The initial selection for online presentation applications is September 15. In addition, if your company is interested in showcasing new technology at the 2011 global conference, please contact Jessica Moss at jessicamoss@innoventurellc.com.
InnoMobility is a global, innovative community of diverse thought leaders that explore how evolving demographics and advancing technology lead to high-growth new business opportunities centered around mobility, energy, materials and connectivity. InnoMobility is managed by InnoVenture LLC.
SMART is a partner in the InnoMobility Conference.
For more information, go to: www.swampfox.ws/2011/08/02/innomobility-global-conference-october-18-19-2011
October 22-24: World Congress on Mobility for Sustainable Cities, Changwon, Republic of Korea
Getting out of our cars and starting to move sustainably
EcoMobility Changwon 2011 will provide you with fresh, visionary and enriching perspectives on sustainable urban mobility. Renowned transportation experts from around the globe will present some of the world’s best case studies, and participants will learn how to kick start and implement good policies while engaging in fruitful debates about mobility for the future of sustainable cities.
Featuring EcoMobile cities, bike sharing, innovations, and overcoming barriers
A special focus will be given to bicycle sharing systems and to EcoMobility innovations. Visions for overcoming physical, institutional or financial barriers will be explored. City Challenges Workshops will concentrate on innovative solutions tailored to the particular needs of cities. And a training course about bike sharing systems will help bike officers to design and implement them.
SMART is a partner in the EcoMobility Alliance
For more information, visit: ecomobility2011.iclei.org.
November 1-5 2011: 10th International Conference on Urban Health – ICUH 2011, Belo Horizonte City, Brazil
The principal theme to be addressed will be urban health action toward equity, with special interest in the evidence and action, focusing in the positive consequences in urban health interventions, as well as the social and public health policies that are required to address these issues. SMART will join research partners from Jaguariuna, Santa Barbara, and Conchal to present research findings on transportation and urban health indicators.
For more information about the conference please visit their website at www.icuh2011.com.
SMART AT LARGE (a not exhaustive report)
Bob Marans Lecturing on Livable Cities in Chengdu. Following the very successful Michigan Meetings on Developing Global Sustainability organized by the Office of the Vice President of Research, SMART core member Bob Marans has been invited to lecture on livable cities in Chengdu in October.
David Chock and Richard Gonzalez are moving ahead with their study on consumer uptake of seamless multi-modal mobility and they have been joined on their China-based research by David Hung of SJTU in Shanghai. Richard Gonzalez and David Hung presented key directions at the Michigan Meetings in May. They will all soon be joined by an MMPEI PISET Post Doc (see above). The study is supported by Ford Motor Company.
Don Scavia and John Callewaert have announced an exciting Community Planning Grant for Integrated Assessments on Advancing Livable Communities through Sustainable Transportation. See above.
Doug Kelbaugh attended the South-North Dialogue Session at the United Nations in New York in May, and led a session on sustainable transportation at the Congress for a New Urbanism conference in Madison in June.
Sue Zielinski has been out and about building partnerships and projects and giving presentations, including in Detroit (AIA Detroit by Design Symposium in April – aiadetroitbydesign.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/transportation-symposium-3); in New York at the United Nations South-North Dialogue Session in May (www.southsouthnews.com/Pages/SSN.aspx?nc=1&t=s&s=1&v=2011/05/20110519133032034&h=true&lo=false&r=7035&vid=a7819085-cc5c-444e-b3a9-4240469f9da7); in Lisbon, Coimbra, and Porto Portugal in June; in Madison at the “Growing Local” Congress for a New Urbanism Conference in June (www.cnu.org/cnu19); in Seattle at the Fort Lewis-McChord Sustainable Community Meeting in July; in Portland at a special WTS event and at the PNWER Annual Summit in July (www.pnwer.org/2011annualsummit.aspx); in Brazil twice in a series of partnership and research meetings near Sao Paulo and in Rio in May and July; in Traverse City at the Trans4M Retreat in July (trans4m.org); at the Wave 3.0 meeting on the 3 internets in August; and at the NREL meeting on sustainable transportation in August.
ABOUT SMART
SMART, Sustainable Mobility & Accessibility Research & Transformation, is a project of UMTRI, the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, and the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Its steering group represents a breadth and diversity of departments, institutes, and initiatives related to sustainable transportation at the University of Michigan.
SMART catalyzes and undertakes research, demonstration projects (living labs), education, and global learning exchange on a range of issues related to the sustainable future of transportation.
SMART ExChange–Smart’s networking site–is at smartumich.ning.com.
SMART is on Twitter.
