Autonomous Vehicles Subject of Transportation Safety Researcher’s Upcoming Presentation

Imagine driving along, glancing at the vehicle next to you and noticing there’s no one behind the wheel. According to recent news headlines, this could become a common occurrence. Are you ready for the influx of autonomous vehicles?
One of the nation’s top experts on driverless cars and their impact on business and society will be the next speaker at the University of Findlay’s Friday’s at Findlay breakfast leadership series. On Dec. 1, Ron Burton, vice president of Transportation Research Center, the nation’s largest independent vehicle testing site, will speak on “Autonomous Vehicles: Current Research, Predictions and Impact.” He will discuss ways that manufacturing and deployment of these vehicles are intended to lessen roadway fatalities and increase mobility options for the elderly and others, along with challenges being faced by the technology.
The breakfast series is sponsored by First Federal Bank, and will be held in Winebrenner Theological Seminary’s TLB Auditorium from 7:30-8:50 a.m. The cost is $10 per person and $5 for students. To make reservations, contact Cindy Lahey at lahey@findlay.edu or call 419-434-5334; or at the Fridays at Findlay webpage.
As vice president of the laboratories business at Transportation Research Center Inc., Burton is responsible for the overall performance, management and direction of vehicle safety research, testing and product development programs. He has more than 26 years of technical management experience in the areas of vehicle stability and control, experimental trauma research, vehicle crash-avoidance advanced technology, and crashworthiness testing/simulation. In 1992 he began serving as TRC Inc.’s program manager for experimental trauma research collaborating with The Ohio State University College of Medicine. In 1996 he was assigned as an operations manager at the laboratory, where he was responsible for vehicle crashworthiness programs.
He has authored publications through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Society of Automotive Engineers and IEEE. He now serves on the SAE Active Safety Committee, SAE Dummy Test Evaluation Subcommittee, and several advisory boards affiliated with The Ohio State University.
Burton’s presentation will be the last Fridays at Findlay event for this fall semester. Fridays at Findlay will resume in 2018. Currently scheduled to speak on March 23 is Carla D. Hayden, Ph.D., who serves as a Librarian of Congress.
(Featured photo credit: Sumarie Slabber <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/28770457@N03/34722324362″>Traffic – Rat race in the city</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/”>(license)</a>)

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