The AIT at the Transport Research Arena in Vienna

Vienna - Europe’s largest transport conference, the TRA (Transport Research Arena), took place in Vienna this week, making the city the European center for mobility of the future. As co-organiser of the conference, the AIT had organised for the world’s leading experts to come to the nation’s capital to speak about their areas of expertise. "As a member of the Programme Committee, the AIT is responsible for the content of TRA 2018, during which, more than 90 sessions will be organised in the areas of transport and mobility," said Christian Chimani, Head of Center for Low-Emission Transport of the AIT and Chair of the Programme Committee of the Transport Research Arena 2018.

Collectively, 3,000 scientists and experts discussed the main topics of digitisation and decarbonisation of transport systems for four days, commencing on the 16th of April. This year's TRA 2018 motto was: "A digital era for transport - solutions for society, economy and environment" As Austria's largest research and technology organisation, the AIT presented a large number of current projects - from the battery of the future, innovative rapid loading systems, new materials for vehicle construction, methods and technologies for improving road safety, to solutions for making mobility systems and freight transport even more efficient.

Decarbonising mobility

Decarbonisation is one of the major challenges within the mobility sector. Thanks to it’s research work, the AIT makes important contributions in curbing climate change in the future and in keeping the planet habitable for future generations. Projects in the field of e-mobility and energy include making engine drives simultaneously environmentally friendly, low-emission and more efficient. AIT's research also aims to optimise transportation means in a climate-friendly way. These include projects such as location planning for bike sharing systems or more efficient route planning in transport and fleet management. A further goal of the AIT researchers is the production of new materials. A breakthrough in the production of new materials in the KryoAlu project means that metal alloys can now be produced at temperatures of minus 150°C. This renders complex heating processes unnecessary and is considered a pioneering project worldwide.

The Challenge of Digitisation

In the age of digitisation it is increasingly important, to have sufficient protection in place for critical infrastructures. Global networking and technological progress are also opening up new possibilities for making transport systems even more efficient. In order to make full use of technical resources in the present and the future, the AIT is constantly researching forward-looking projects in these areas. AIT's developments range from 5G wireless communication, which enables self-driving cars to communicate with each other, digital monitoring of structural dynamics or noise protection and to research and improve self-driving transport systems. With these innovations, AIT scientists are making an important contribution to the mobility of the future.

The mobility landscape of the future

Rapidly growing cities pose a major challenge for mobility. The AIT also conducts research in the field of smart cities on urban development and urban mobility. The human dimension of urban design is also in the interest of the AIT's research work, which is implemented in technologies like virtual reality, for example. Furthermore, the Center for Innovation Systems & Policy takes on an advisory role in Austria as well as in European politics and is dedicated to working on current and future challenges in the field of mobility and transport.

Links to press information on the individual AIT topic groups can be found here:

- Digital Safety & Security

- E-Mobility & Energy

- Experiments next generation infrastructure

- Human Dimensions

- Innovation Systems

- New Materials

- Road Safety

- Smart City

- Transport Logistics

Further information: www.traconference.eu/ and also www.ait.ac.at.

CONTACT:

Michael H. Hlava

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology

Head of Corporate and Marketing Communications

tel. +43 (0)50550-4014

mobile: +43 664 620 77 66

e-mail: michael.h.hlava@ait.ac.at

www.ait.ac.at

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Daniel Pepl, MAS

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology

Corporate and Marketing Communications

tel.+43 (0)50550-4040

mobile: +43 664 620 78 05

e-mail: daniel.pepl@ait.ac.at

www.ait.ac.at