Transferring New Technology to Our Students: Integrating Technology Development and Transportation Education
The University of Idaho's National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology (NIATT) has been transferring technology that it developed to students in the classroom and to practitioners in the field for over 10 years, thanks to a closely integrated program of technology development and transportation education. NIATT and its partners developed and marketed two technologies fundamental to creating more realistic traffic simulation environments: hardware in- the-loop and software-in-the-loop simulation. The technologies have been integrated into NIATT's Traffic Signal Summer Workshop and Mobile Signal Timing Training course (MOST).
The Controller Interface Device - In 1998, NIATT asked the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to identify high priority federal research needs that could be met through a strategic investment of NIATT's University Transportation Center program funds. One result was the challenge from the FHWA to develop a device that could bring real technology to the simulation process, known as hardware in the loop simulation or HILS.