The University of Central Florida's Distinguished Researcher for 2003, associate professor of civil engineering, Mohamed Abdel-Aty, is driven to improve traffic safety and reduce the number of crashes and fatalities through study of intersection-crash histories as well as by using data collected for other purposes in several highway safety projects.

"Nobody has thought of using this data for safety, until now," Abdel-Aty says. "Based on what we already know from (sensors under Interstate -4), we (will be able to) predict when and where an accident is likely to occur and can inform drivers and prevent crashes or reduce their impact."

Abdel-Aty, of the Center for Advanced Transportation Systems Simulation in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, was selected from the college distinguished researchers including: College of Business Administration, Junsoo Lee, economics; College of Arts and Sciences, Weili Luo, physics, and Cynthia Young, mathematics; College of Health and Public Affairs, Emma Brown, nursing; and College of Education, Enrique Ortiz, teaching and learning principles. The Institute and Centers Award went to Ali T-Raissi, Florida Solar Energy Center.

Outstanding faculty and students were honored at the Founders' Day Convocation.

For more on Abdel-Aty's research see "Building Better, Safer Trips," Dec. 16, 2002, at www.news.ucf.edu and also a Tampa Tribune article on Abdel-Aty, "UCF Professor Works on a Study That Could Save Lives on Highways Across the United States."