The Council of University Transportation Centers thanks

the following sponsors for theirs support of the annual 2008 Awards program:

American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials • Alabama Road Builders Association • American Public Transportation Association

• BE&K Government Group, Inc. • CH2M HILL • Hatch Mott McDonald, Inc.

• HNTB Corporation • Mineta Transportation Institute • PB • Pennsylvania Transportation Institute • Rahall Transportation Institute

• Systra Consulting, Inc. • URS Corporation • Vulcan Materials Company

CUTC would like to give special thanks to The Research & Innovative Technology Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation for its continued support

About CUTC

The Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) was established in 1979 by the major transportation research centers and institutes in the United States. CUTC is a Tennessee not-for-profit corporation and a recognized IRS 501C(3) organization. CUTC promotes continued dialogue among its member institutions, and it provides a forum for the centers to interact collectively with government and industry.

CUTC's membership represents over 60 of the nation's leading university-based transportation research and education programs. Collectively, CUTC members have advanced the state-of-the-art in all modes and disciplines of transportation. In doing so, the membership of CUTC has made significant and lasting contributions to the nation's mobility, economy, and defense.

The primary purposes of CUTC include providing a:

• forum for improving and enhancing research and education in transportation and related areas;
• means by which problems common to transportation centers in universities can be discussed and clarified;
• medium through which transportation research and education may be enhanced and where information and opinions on problems emerging in transportation can be expeditiously exchanged;
• forum for better integrating and coordinating research with academic education, training, and technology transfer; and
• point of interface for other groups and organizations having an interest in university transportation education and/or research.

CUTC and seven partner organizations have formed the Strategic Alliance for Advancement of Transportation, combining their resources to work toward a unified goal: the development of intellectual capital and creation of new knowledge in the field of transportation. The Alliance also supports innovative adaptation of the latest technology and has issued a statement that further details its ideas. A position paper by the Alliance makes the case for transportation education and research.

Pursuant to its goal to advance education, research, and technology transfer, CUTC has issued position papers regarding support for these activities in the next surface transportation bill, due to be considered by Congress late in 2002. Among other things, the papers advocate funding transportation education programs, developing a strategic plan for transportation research, using merit as the basis for allocation of federal research funds, and advancing mobility by adapting existing and new technologies for transportation applications.

In January 2002 CUTC formed a cooperative agreement with the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). Under the three-year agreement, ARTBA will manage CUTC's business, meetings and scholarship programs and provide a headquarters location in Washington, D.C. CUTC members will help promote ARTBA meetings, encourage student participation in ARTBA and facilitate ARTBA-member participation in research projects. CUTC will also develop technical and management information sessions for presentation during ARTBA conventions and meetings and work with ARTBA to advance a federal transportation research and funding agenda. See the Memorandum of Agreement for more detail.