Congratulations to Dr. Barry Hojjatie, winner of the Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Smart Communities Challenge!  Dr. Hojjatie’s submission, “Developing, Implementing, and Evaluating a Traffic Monitoring and Communications System for the City of Valdosta and Its Communities to Improve Safety, Connectivity, and Efficiency,” will assist in enhancing public road safety and improving traffic flow in real-time.  Real-time features of the new system are envisioned to create a new platform for community stakeholders such as first respondents, pedestrians, bikers, and vehicle drivers, to communicate with each other and the City traffic operations center via the TravelSafely app for smartphones, transforming Valdosta into a smart and connected city.  This project will be a stepping stone for transforming the VSU campus into a fully equipped Smart Campus, which will include smart parking, autonomous vehicles, and other safely applications.

Dr. Barry Hojjatie is a VSU Professor of Engineering and Coordinator of the VSU Engineering Studies program highlighting the RETP connection to Georgia Tech. His research interests include: Computer Aided Design/Engineering (CAD/CAE), Computational/Experimental mechanics and heat transfer analyses related to dental materials and other biomaterials, pulp and paper manufacturing, and paper physics.