Auburn Engineering hosts national transportation leaders for CUTC Summer Meeting
Published: Jul 1, 2026 2:15 PM
By Dustin Duncan
U.S. Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology Seval Oz addresses transportation leaders during the 2026 CUTC Summer Meeting, hosted by Auburn Engineering’s Auburn University Transportation Research Institute.
Auburn Engineering welcomed U.S. Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology Seval Oz and approximately 100 transportation leaders from across the country June 15-17 for the 2026 Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) Summer Meeting.
Hosted by the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s Auburn University Transportation Research Institute (AUTRI), the meeting brought together university transportation center and institute leaders to explore research, education, outreach, workforce development and technology transfer. During her visit, Oz met with Auburn leaders to discuss opportunities for the university to participate in new federal transportation initiatives.
Larry Rilett, AUTRI director, said hosting CUTC gave Auburn Engineering a national platform to highlight the depth of its transportation research, facilities and partnerships.
“From pavement research and structural testing to vehicle dynamics, automation and transportation systems, Auburn has a unique combination of facilities, faculty expertise and partnerships that can help address some of the most important transportation challenges facing the country. It was a great opportunity to showcase our people and programs to transportation leaders from across the country,” he said.
Established in 1979, CUTC provides a national forum for university transportation centers to work with government and industry on issues essential to the nation’s transportation system.
Auburn President Chris Roberts opened the conference by highlighting Auburn Engineering’s transportation research portfolio and Auburn’s land-grant commitment to developing practical solutions for agencies, industry and communities.
“A significant portion of our research efforts at Auburn is dedicated to solving these tough transportation challenges,” Roberts said. “That work reflects who we are as a land-grant institution — taking on real problems, developing solutions and serving the people who depend on them.”
Many attendees saw Auburn’s transportation research firsthand during conference tours of the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) and the GPS and Vehicle Dynamics Laboratory. NCAT partners with more than 30 state departments of transportation and uses full-scale accelerated pavement testing to evaluate asphalt performance under real-world conditions.
The opening session also featured CUTC President Yinhai Wang and USDOT leader Firas Ibrahim, along with Oz, who emphasized the role of university research in strengthening partnerships, moving technologies toward deployment and shaping the next generation of transportation systems.
Oz focused her remarks on the federal Digital Corridors Initiative, a state-led effort to modernize the nation’s transportation system through digital infrastructure and data sharing.
“We are in a digital revolution,” Oz said.
The initiative’s early uses include work zone safety, lane closures, traffic alerts and truck parking. Oz called on university transportation centers to work with state departments of transportation and identify research projects that can support digital infrastructure, data exchange and advanced analytics.
Rilett said the conversations at CUTC underscored the importance of connecting university research with the agencies and partners responsible for putting new technologies into practice.
“The value of a meeting like this is that it brings the full transportation research community together,” Rilett said. “The relationships built here can lead to the next research projects, the next technology deployments and the next generation of transportation professionals.”
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