Warren Distinguished Lecture Series

A Warren Distinguished Lecture with

Henry Liu
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Abstract
Earning public trust in highly automated vehicles, and a greater understanding of how they operate, is paramount as automakers and their suppliers push to put cars and trucks on the road that can safely operate without a driver. The complex automated vehicle safety testing programs being implemented across industry are generally proprietary, and their structure remains hidden from public view. To remedy this, we developed the Mcity Safety Assessment Program, a two-part protocol for testing the behavior competence of automated vehicles before their widespread use on public roads. The first part of the assessment is a “Driver’s License Test” that measures the basic behavioral competency of an automated vehicle through random scenario generation. The second part is a “Driving Intelligence Test” that challenges AI-based algorithms with a diverse set of scenarios representing those that most often result in crashes, injuries, and fatalities.  Mcity believes the Mcity Safety Assessment Program could serve as the blueprint for a publicly inspectable behavioral safety framework, helping industry bring automated vehicle technology to market in a manner that truly benefits society. Liu also highlights Mcity 2.0, a facility funded by the National Science Foundation, that aims to build a digital infrastructure providing researchers remote access to the Mcity mixed reality testing environment for highly automated vehicles. 

Speaker
Dr. Henry Liu is the Bruce D. Greenshields Collegiate Professor of Engineering and the Director of Mcity at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, a Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and a Research Professor at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. He also directs the Center for Connected and Automated Transportation, a USDOT funded regional university transportation center. Liu conducts interdisciplinary research at the interface of transportation engineering, automotive engineering, and artificial intelligence. He is recognized for his foundational work in cyber-physical transportation systems, particularly on the development of smart traffic signal systems with connected vehicles, and testing/evaluation of autonomous vehicles. He has published more than 140 refereed journal articles. His work on safety validation of autonomous vehicles was published and featured as the cover story in Nature. He has also appeared on a number of media outlets including Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Science Daily, Tech Xplore, CNBC, and WXYZ for transportation innovations. Liu is the managing editor of Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems and a board member for ITS America and IEEE ITS Society.

A Warren Distinguished Lecture with Michael Termont, P.E., US Public Health Service 

Abstract
The Indian Health Service Sanitation Facilities Construction program is responsible for delivering engineering services for drinking water, wastewater, and solid waste facilities to American Indian and Alaska Natives. Providing these services comes with a unique set of challenges including adverse environmental conditions, limited suppliers, balancing high treatment demands with limited operation and maintenance personnel and budget to provide dependable solutions in order to raise the health of the disadvantaged Native American communities. Michael Termont will discuss some of the projects he has been involved in to highlight these challenges and the on-the-ground solutions he encountered working at the Indian Health Service.

Speaker
Michael Termont is a professional engineer in the US Public Health Service. He has worked for the Division of Sanitation Facilities Construction at Indian Health Service for over 20 years.  Termont has worked with tribes in South Dakota, Nebraska, Washington, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. He has held the positions of Field Engineer, Tribal Utility Consultant, and, most recently, the Deputy Director of Project Support for the Bemidji Area DSFC.  He has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineer from Iowa State University, and a Masters in Engineering Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a licensed professional engineer in the states of Washington and Minnesota.