|
HomePage |
|
|
|
|
Research at MIT
The Center for Transportation & Logistics – originally started in 1973 as the Center for Transportation Studies – has long been recognized around the world as a leader in its field. Along with fundamental contributions to the understanding of transportation system planning, operations, and management, its efforts have included significant contributions to all the various modes of transportation, both passenger and freight, in both the public and private sectors, ranging from broad conceptual planning to the specifics of equipment design and operations analysis.
Graduates of the Center's education programs now play leading roles in both the private and public sectors – at airlines, railroads, trucking firms, and consulting organizations, and at transit agencies, airport authorities, and government agencies such as departments of transportation and highways. A large percentage of Ph.D graduates also now hold faculty positions at U.S. and foreign universities, while others are pursuing research or consulting careers.
Much of the Center's most ambitious work has been conducted under the aegis of major research and education programs such as the International Motor Vehicle Program, begun in 1980, and the New England Transportation Consortium, initiated in 1983. More recently, a multi-year collaboration has been undertaken between MIT and the University of Puerto Rico, focused on the development of Tren Urbano, a new rail system planned for the San Juan metropolitan area.
In 1999, the Global Airline Industry Program was begun to study the economics, management, and operations of the entire aviation industry, including international, domestic, local, and regional carriers, aircraft and engine manufacturers, airports, air traffic control, and supervisory agencies. MIT has also been tapped, along with UC/Berkeley, to head the FAA Air Transportation Center of Excellence in Operations Research, a coalition of universities focused on the development and use of operations research to address specific aviation issues.
Other major research programs currently underway include:
In addition to these programs, MIT has been designated a National Maritime Enhancement Institute by the Maritime Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation. And the Association of American Railroads has designated MIT one of three AAR Affiliated Laboratories.
Along with helping coordinate the extensive research into transportation and logistics that is conducted throughout the Institute, the Center also administers three interdisciplinary graduate programs. Approximately 75 students are currently enrolled in the programs, coming from a wide range of backgrounds including engineering, urban planning, economics, science, mathematics, social science, and the humanities. More than half have one-to-five years of full-time experience in the field, bringing a wealth of practical insight into classroom discussion, and several students have also served in their nations' military service.
The flagship program is the Master of Science in Transportation (MST), established in 1978 to give students a comprehensive education in transportation. The Interdepartmental Ph.D Program was introduced in 1992 to provide a structured follow-on for students in the MST program or other transportation-related Masters programs. And a fast-paced nine-month program was begun in 1998 leading to a Master of Engineering in Logistics (MLOG).
The initiation of the MLOG program reflected the growing inclusion of logistics and supply chain management issues in the Center's research and education agenda, a development that eventually led, in the summer of 2002, to the adoption of the Center's new name. Among the new initiatives is a nascent research program investigating strategies for coping with the terrorist threat to supply chain operations.
To support its research and education mission, the Center established the Transportation Computing Laboratory in 1983. The laboratory serves as the focal point for all academic and research computing in transportation and is open to students and faculty 24 hours a day. A number of notable applications have been developed in the laboratory during its operation, including a transit fare and route analysis model, a truckload routing and scheduling model, a logistics inventory model, and various rail maintenance and inventory control models.
In addition to its research and education efforts, the Center maintains several important outreach programs to the transportation community, maintaining long-term relations with a number of important organizations in the field including the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, and the UPS Foundation. The Center's Affiliates Program in Logistics also develops important working relationships between MIT and corporations that lead their field in logistics practice.
The Center promotes interaction among more than 50 faculty members from all schools at MIT, as well as from other universities and organizations around the world. The interchange of information, ideas, and inspiration among faculty, students, and researchers makes it one of the most dynamic focal points of activity in the transportation and logistics field.
|
HomePage |
|
|
|
|