Paving the Future Civil Engineers, Afghans to Improve ravaged Roads Decades of conflict and unstable leadership have left Afghanistan’s outdated and limited infrastructure crumbling. As the country starts to rebuild, Maryland’s Center for Advanced Transportation Technology (CATT) is lending valuable expertise. “There are challenges because it’s still very much a war zone,” says CATT Director Tom Jacobs. “But we’ve certainly offered our technical support and want to help them.” In the new three-year partnership, the Afghanistan Ministry of Public Works is interested in CATT’s work on the Maryland State Highway Administration’s cuttingedge virtual weigh station. Sensors on the highway collect data including
truck classification, gross weight and axle weight, making it harder for drivers to avoid being weighed and helping officers target overweight vehicles for enforcement. The Afghan ministry hopes to use this system to keep super-heavy trucks—sometimes more than 150,000 pounds, nearly double the U.S. weight limit—from damaging roads. The Afghan government is also looking for ways to monitor the Salang Tunnel, an essential north-south route through an extensive mountain range that cuts a three-day journey to just one. The ministry wants to be able to act when snow, avalanches or other problems cause blockages or congestion.–ks
MIPS
heavy medal
Physics Professor Awarded National Medal of Science President Barack Obama has named physics Professor Sylvester James “Jim” Gates Jr. a 2013 recipient of the National Medal of Science. Along with the National Medal of Technology, it’s the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists, engineers and inventors. Gates is known for his groundbreaking work in string theory as well as for popularizing science among young people.
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Years
A unique partnership that joins university experts with Maryland-based companies seeking to develop new products celebrated a quarter-century of success in November.
afghanistan photo by ADEK BERRY/AFP/GettyImages / gates photo by John T. Consoli
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