new leadership roles

Automotive Veteran Tapped to Lead Mobility and Power Center

Michael Oatridge, an experienced leader in the automotive industry and entrepreneur, was selected to become executive director of the Alabama Mobility and Power (AMP) Center. Oatridge worked for Honda Motor Company for more than 30 years, retiring in 2021 as senior vice president of Honda Manufacturing of Alabama. Most recently, he has been president and owner of Strategic Workforce Solutions, a startup company in Birmingham that helps recruit businesses to the state.

A strategic leader with extensive automotive knowledge including new product development, manufacturing and supply chain optimization, Oatridge has been able to successfully sustain high performance across an organization by use of internal resources and a broad network of contacts in both the public and private sectors. Oatridge joined Honda in 1989 as an engineer, taking on increasing responsibilities at its manufacturing plant in Ontario, Canada. His tenure included an assignment at company headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, as well as a manufacturing plant in Ohio.

He came to the plant in Lincoln, Alabama, in 2001 and became vice president of manufacturing operations in 2010, a position he held until 2016 when he was promoted to senior vice president. In this position for five years, Oatridge directed day-to-day operations of a staff of over 6,000 employees, while ensuring the production of over 350,000 vehicles. He was responsible for company operations of more than $1.2 billion annually.

“The future of the AMP Center is to bring together all of the entities that are required to make the EV network work. From the customer’s needs, desires, and anxiety, to sourcing of the raw materials, to the component OEM manufacturing, the after-service where we will have to train and create a whole new network of people to work on electric cars, the charging infrastructure and finally the reuse with the recycling. It is really looking at the entire life cycle of that vehicle and the ecosystem for the vehicle.”

Engineering Professor, Automotive Pioneer Adds New Research and Development Role

Dr. Bharat Balasubramanian, professor in the UA College of Engineering and executive director of the Center for Advanced Vehicle Technologies, accepted the additional responsibility of creating and implementing a vision for connected, automated and electric mobility research and elevating the profile of ATI globally.

With expertise in the fields of electric and automated vehicles and the requisite infrastructure, Balasubramanian, known on campus as Dr. B, brings nearly 40 years of experience in research and development with Daimler AG in the Mercedes-Benz Cars Division. After retiring from Daimler in 2012 as vice president of group research and advanced engineering, Balasubramanian accepted an appointment as professor in both mechanical engineering and electrical and computer engineering at UA.

Over the past decade at UA, he has been integral in improving automotive engineering education and research while helping to form partnerships between UA and the state’s automotive industry. He started and leads the Two Steps Ahead: International German Student Exchange Program designed for a select group of students to gain experience with multi-national companies in automotive engineering while learning German.

His leadership of CAVT has helped the center to design and test the transportation technology that will drive the newly emerging economies of mobility and power. In the past five years, Balasubramanian and his team have secured nearly $20 Million in grant funding from federal agencies, the Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Education. In these multi-disciplinary efforts, the projects typically involve between four to 12 faculty members from various departments and colleges.

Transportation Policy Research Center Expands with New Director

As part of a broadening of its scope, the Transportation Policy Research Center at UA will be led by former James R. Cudworth Professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering, Dr. Steven Jones. As the new director of the Center, Jones also became the full-time deputy director of ATI. He continues to serve as a full professor in the UA College of Engineering. Dr. Jones brings more than 25 years of transportation engineering and planning experience spanning both academic and private sector consulting appointments. His research and professional efforts explore how transportation impacts human development through safety and accessibility as well as cultivating international relationships to facilitate collaborative research, education and technology transfer.

Dr. Jones served as principal investigator on approximately $16 million in externally sponsored projects from a range of funding sources. He has authored or co-authored more than 200 journal articles, conference papers, design manuals and project reports on a range of transportation topics. Active internationally, Jones has participated in transportation projects in the United States, Europe, Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. He is currently serving a two-year stint as a Fulbright Scholar Alumni Ambassador for the program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State that supports domestic faculty to conduct research and scholarship in more than 130 countries.

$18.3 million research dollars awarded to core and affiliated centers across the university

ATI has oversight of three Core Centers focused on implementing ACES2 Mobility in developing projects and conducting research. Affiliated Centers, located in the College of Engineering and the Culverhouse College of Business, provide a comprehensive approach to interdisciplinary collaboration.

Core Centers

Alabama Mobility and Power Center

AMP provides a platform for ATI and UA to establish premier leadership in transportation electrification, which will be a pivotal concept in transportation over the next decade.

Office of Research & Economic Development

Center for Advanced Public Safety

CAPS is an interdisciplinary research center dedicated to the implementation of technologies that enhance public safety.

College of Engineering

Office of Research & Economic Development

Transportation Policy Research Center

ATPRC plays a critical role within the Alabama Transportation Institute by helping to communicate and interpret research findings to the public and policymakers.

Office of Research & Economic Development amp.ua.edu caps.ua.edu atprc.ua.edu

Center for Advanced Vehicle Technologies

CAVT conducts research and creates educational programs dedicated to the advancement of vehicle technology.

College of Engineering

Center for Business and Economic Research

CBER provides forecasts of economic activity, assessments, and analysis for public and private stakeholders.

Culverhouse College of Business

Center for Insurance Information & Research

ACIIR provide facts and truths to parties who directly contribute to the state’s economic development.

Culverhouse College of Business

Center for Sustainable Infrastructure

CSI is a technical innovation resource that addresses issues related to sustainable infrastructure.

College of Engineering

Center for Transportation Operations, Planning, and Safety

C-TOPS plays a vital role in technology-transfer activities.

College of Engineering

Institute of Data and Analytics

IDA advances the creation, transformation, and distribution of knowledge through data and analytic research.

Culverhouse College of Business