CARY – SAS has joined the Advanced Mobility Collective, an initiative of the Wireless Research Center that is supported by a $24 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
The Collective, which is based in Wake Forest at the Wireless Research Center, is a nonprofit global community of partners that aims to innovate in mobility and transportation. The group describes itself as a catalyst for “economic development for connected and autonomous vehicles in the air and on the ground.”
SAS executive Jim Trogdon will join the nonprofit’s advisory board. Prior to his role at SAS, Trogdon led the North Carolina Department of Transportation, and served in the National Guard.
“Transportation innovation is accelerating with the convergence of 5G wireless connectivity and massive data from the Internet of Things merged with connected air and ground vehicles,” said Trogdon in a statement. “The vehicles are evolving into autonomous smart machines which will rely on analytics, artificial intelligence and edge computing to revolutionize mobility for people and freight.”
Katy Salamati, a SAS senior transportation and infrastructure consultant, will also join the Advanced Mobility Collective as an expert in residence, the company announced. In her role at SAS, Salamati works with government and commercial transportation, logistics, and supply chain organizations to apply advanced analytics and artificial intelligence.
“Smart cities and advanced mobility will require real-time decision making and high-performance analytical and predictive modeling at large scale,” Salamati said. “Connected, and even autonomous vehicles will transform mobility and generate vast amounts of data to improve the flow of freight, reduce congestion and improve safety and overall quality of life for us all.”
