Several area truck drivers will head to a national driving competition in Utah this summer after winning their respective categories of the 62nd Annual Virginia Truck Driving Championships.

The championship, held April 19 and 20 at the Lee-Hi Travel Plaza in Lexington, gave drivers a chance to show off their safe and fancy driving skills. Official rules on the Virginia Trucking Association’s website say drivers were judged on “professional appearance, knowledge of regulations, and vehicle and driving skills.” Part of the competition included a written test.

Participants had to live in Virginia and not have had any accidents in the year before the competition.

The Virginia Trucking Association, which hosts the trucking competition, patterns the event after the American Trucking Associations’ National Truck Driving Championships, state association spokeswoman Robyn Bolton said in a news release.

The nine first-place winners will get to compete at the national level in Salt Lake City, Utah, in late August.

Roanoke-area first-place winners, their hometown, their company and home terminal location are: Read more »

A symposium addressing the mobility needs of seniors will take place Dec. 6 at the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center. The community is invited to attend a session and express concerns about transportation and the aging population. This event is hosted by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, the Center for Gerontology at Virginia Tech, and is sponsored by the National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence. For more information,  email jantin@vtti.vt.edu  or call 231-1579.

Here is the press release from Virginia Tech.

BLACKSBURG, Va., Nov. 27, 2012 – As the U.S. population ages, there are more people, including drivers, over the age of 65. To address seniors’ mobility needs, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the Center for Gerontology at Virginia Tech are hosting the Senior Mobility Awareness Symposium: Integrating Science, Policy, and Practice, sponsored by the National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence. Read more »

The National Tire Research Center will house a force and moment tire test machine designed for passenger-car, light-truck, and motorsport tires. The machine can test tires to 200 mph and provides data on torque and braking capabilities, including on wet road conditions.

A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held Wednesday at the National Tire Research Center in Halifax County. The center was created through a collaboration with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and Virginia Tech Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, General Motors, and the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission. Wednesday’s celebration will showcase the  renovated facility and its custom built equipment used for tire testing and development

Here is the press release from Virginia Tech.

DANVILLE, Va., Oct. 19, 2012 – The National Tire Research Center, located in Halifax County adjacent to the Virginia International Raceway, will have a ribbon cutting on Oct. 24 for its renovated facility and to display the custom-built equipment that economic development leaders and Virginia Tech officials say they hope make the Southern Virginia region the one-stop destination for global tire testing and development.
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Left to right, Virginia Tech Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering students Maria Rye of Oakton, Va.; Tom Kasmer of Belmont, N.C.; Bryan Undercoffer of Lexington, Va.; Matt Shepherd of Annadale, Va.; and Nicole Heersema of Mountainside, N.J. Not pictured are team members Tommy Hertz, Matt Smith, Greg Wheeler.

Virginia Tech’s student team in the Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering took home a first place win in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation’s 2011–2012 Undergraduate Team Space Transportation Design Competition. The team designed and produced a business plan for a commercial Earth-to-orbit vehicle that would give customers a round trip to space and back. Winning the top spot at the design competition came with a cash award of $2,500.

Here is the press release from Virginia Tech.

BLACKSBURG, Va., Oct. 12, 2012 – A student team from Virginia Tech’s Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, part of the College of Engineering, has won first place in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation’s 2011–2012 Undergraduate Team Space Transportation Design Competition.

Representatives of the team presented their design at the institute’s September SPACE 2012 Conference & Exposition in Pasadena, Calif. The contest required entrants to design, and produce a business plan for a commercial Earth-to-orbit passenger vehicle. Among the tasks: The theoretical vehicle should take paying customers from Earth to orbit and back for a variety of research and tourism purposes. Read more »

Carrier Enterprise is expanding its facility and its business. Branch Management Corp has begun expanding the facility to meet Carrier’s growing business. The building, located on Aerial Way Drive in Roanoke, will have an additional 10,000 square feet at the end of the renovation.

Here is a press release from Branch Management Corp.

Roanoke, Virginia – September 25, 2012 – Branch Management Corp has broken ground to build a 10,000 SF expansion for one of its commercial facilities at 3517 Aerial Way Drive in Roanoke, VA. Carrier Enterprise is the building’s tenant who needs the additional space for their growing business. Read more »

Trucks on Interstate-81

Electronic onboard recording for commercial vehicles is being studied by researchers at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institution. The device presents a way to determine if drivers and fleets are complying with hours of service requirements. A driver’s work day can only be 14 hours long with an 11 hour driving limit. A grant from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will aid researches in determining whether or not the device improves driver compliance with driving time limits, how many operators use them, device costs and benefits.

Here is the press release from Virginia Tech.

BLACKSBURG, Va., Aug. 10, 2012 – Safe operation of commercial vehicles depends upon drivers receiving enough sleep. But how to monitor that drivers are complying with hours-of-service requirements? Electronic onboard recording may be the solution. With funding from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), researchers at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institution are looking at the safety records for drivers and fleets who have been using the technology. Read more »

The Blacksburg-based Interstate 81 Corridor Coalition has announced the hiring of Rachel Cogburn as executive director. Cogburn, a transportation planner who was previously with the Atlanta Regional Commission, will be employed by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which became the host agency for the commission in 2011. The commission provides mutual planning and advocacy on behalf of a spectrum of interests from all six states along the 855-mile, I-81 highway. It was previously based at Shippensburg University near Harrisburg, Pa.

-Jeff Sturgeon

Here is the press release from Virginia Tech

BLACKSBURG, Va., Aug. 7, 2012 – Rachel Cogburn has joined the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute as executive director of the I-81 Corridor Coalition. Read more »

Ron Gibbons

Airport parking garages are soon going to see the light. Ron Gibbons, a lighting expert and director of the Center for Infrastructure Based Safety Systems at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute has received funding to research airport garage lighting and create a guidebook. Funding comes from  the National Academy of Sciences. New lighting technology could improve visibility for pedestrians, drivers and airport security alike.

Here is the press release from Virginia Tech.

BLACKSBURG, Va., July 24, 2012 – Pedestrians in parking garages are at great risk of being hit by vehicles, and this is particularly true of airport garages, where many drivers are not familiar with the garage and may be driving rentals, with which they are also unfamiliar. New, whiter lights offer an opportunity to brighten all surfaces in garages and make it easier for drivers to see pedestrians and signs.

Lighting expert Ron Gibbons, director of the Center for Infrastructure Based Safety Systems at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, has received funding from the National Academy of Sciences to research “Airport Parking Garage Lighting Solutions” and create a guidebook. Read more »

FAA Inspectors Present Jay Muscatello, General Manager at Moog Components Group’s Blacksburg, VA, Operations with Repair Station Certificate. (Left to right: Dale Herner, Jay Muscatello, Manuel Carvalho)

Moog Components Group in Blacksburg has been awarded the Federal Aviation Administration’s Repair Station Certificate. The certificate shows that their faculty for aircraft components is an FAA approved repair station. Moog is a worldwide manufacturer of precision control components and systems.

Here is the press release from Moog.

Blacksburg, VA, USA – Moog Components Group, a division of Moog Inc., announces it has been awarded the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) certificate as an approved repair station at its Blacksburg, Virginia, facility for aircraft components. This allows Moog to expand services to its customers. In addition to providing new slip ring models to meet customer’s specifications, Moog can now offer slip ring repair for the AW139, AW189, EH101, AW101, AW609 and S-92.

Moog is building on its proven manufacturing methods to ensure compliance for the evaluation, testing and repair of returned products. Detailed documents have been completed for this process. Inspection equipment is in place and trained technicians are available to monitor compliance with all regulatory requirements.

“This is just another step in Moog’s plan to continuously improve support to our customers,” adds Jay Muscatello, General Manager of Moog Components Group’s Blacksburg Operations. “We are pleased to add the certified repair capability for our commercial aviation customers as we continue to expand in this important market.” Moog also has several other facilities that are certified on specific product repairs.

Moog designs and manufactures a wide range of slip ring products that are used in aerospace applications to transfer power and data from a stationary to a rotating structure. Slip rings are used in electromechanical systems that require unrestrained, intermittent or continuous rotation. For demanding environments, as well as high speed data requirements, a fiber optic solution is available.

About Moog
Moog Inc. is a worldwide designer, manufacturer, and integrator of precision control components and systems. Moog’s high performance systems control military and commercial aircraft, satellites and space vehicles, launch vehicles, missiles, automated industrial machinery, wind energy, marine and medical equipment.
Moog Components Group, a division of Moog Inc., provides motion and fiber optic products for industrial, medical, marine, aerospace and defense applications, including slip rings, motors, actuators, fiber optic components and integrated rotary solutions.

Additional information about the Moog Components Group’s slip rings can be found at www.moog.com/components

A grant of $3.5 million has been awarded to the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute to create a program consisting of transportation research, education and technology transfer for a Tier 1 University Transportation Center. Funds were awarded by The United States Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration. Research findings will be used worldwide by safety experts creating a connected transportation network.

Here is the press release from Virginia Tech.

BLACKSBURG, Va., June 5, 2012 – The United States Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration has awarded funds in the amount of $3.5 million to establish a multidisciplinary program of transportation research, education, and technology transfer for a Tier 1 University Transportation Center to be headquartered at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.

Additional external funding is expected to bring the total program at the institute to approximately $7 million through January 2014. Read more »