[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 213 (Friday, November 3, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55881-55883]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-27351]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary


Criteria and Application Process for the Secretarial Award for 
Excellence in Transportation Technology Research and Development

AGENCY: Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary.


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ACTION: Notice of request for nominations.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation (DOT) announces procedures 
for nominating individuals and organizations for the Secretarial Award 
for Excellence in Transportation Technology Research and Development. 
Awards are made annually by the Secretary of Transportation to 
recognize research and development contributions advancing the 
performance of U.S. transportation systems and the ability of U.S. 
transportation industries to create domestic jobs and compete in the 
global marketplace.

DATES: Nominations must be postmarked no later than November 30, 1995.

ADDRESSES: An original and three copies of the nomination should be 
sent to: Noah Rifkin, Director of Technology Deployment, Office of the 
Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 7th Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20590, room 10200. One additional copy should be sent to 
the contact listed below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Keving Green, Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Kendall 
Square, DTS-24, Cambridge, MA 02142. Telephone: (617)-494-2106. 
Internet: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    This notice solicits nominations for the Secretarial Award for 
Excellence in Transportation Technology Research and Development and 
provides relevant information on the nomination and selection process. 
The award is an honorary recognition by the Secretary of 
Transportation. Last year, one award was made, and it was granted to 
QUALCOMM Incorporated of San Diego, in recognition of its OmniTRACS 
mobile communications and vehicle tracking system.

Purpose

    DOT is committed to promoting a safe and efficient transportation 
system that enhances the U.S. economy and contributes to a secure and 
healthy environment. In fulfilling this mission, the Department intends 
to accelerate the development and application of advanced 
transportation technologies. The Secretary of Transportation has 
therefore established the Secretarial Award for Excellence in 
Transportation Technology Research and Development to recognize 
significant achievement that expand the transportation technology 
knowledge base, that promote timely deployment of those transportation 
technologies which will best meet the nation's needs, and that enhance 
the ability of the U.S. transportation industries to compete 
internationally.

Evaluation Criteria

    Nominations will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
     Quality and innovative nature of the technology developed 
and/or deployed;
     How the technology improves the safety, efficiency, and/or 
environmental performance of transportation systems;
     How the technology has enhanced industry competitiveness, 
both domestically and internationally;
     Significance of individual or organization nominated to 
the success of the development and/or deployment effort;
     Entrepreneurial nature of research effort (nature of 
collaboration);
     Potential for positive economic benefits to the U.S. or 
specific region; and
     Applicability to more than one mode of transportation.
    The qualifying work may be a singular accomplishment or a series of 
accomplishments that have had a substantial effect over time. However, 
significant weight will be given to achievements developed or 
demonstrated within the past twelve months.
    Examples of achievements that may be recognized include, but are 
not limited to:
     Safety Improvements--Technology that reduces the 
likelihood of transportation-related accidents or the likelihood of 
serious injury when such accidents do occur or otherwise improves the 
chances of post-accident survival/recovery of accident victims. This 
could include research and development of instrumentation equipment, 
human factors, or biomechanics.
     Energy Savings--Technology that reduces the energy 
intensity of transportation systems through research in materials, 
alternative fuels, engine and propulsion modifications, aerodynamic 
modeling and drag reduction, combustion research, and transportation 
system modeling and design.
     Environmental Quality--Technology that reduces the impact 
of transportation on air quality, water quality, solid waste volume and 
toxicity, noise, the global climate, and biological diversity. This 
could include research and development of products, processes, models, 
systems, or measurement instrumentation.
     International Industrial Competitiveness--Technology that 
helps U.S. transportation industries to create jobs for U.S. citizens 
and to compete in the global marketplace for transportation vehicles 
and equipment and for freight and passenger transportation services.
     Economic Performance--Transportation technology that 
improves the economic efficiency of domestic and international freight 
and passenger transportation systems. Such improvements could result 
from, for example: reduced travel time, reduced life-cycle costs of 
vehicles and infrastructure, and more cost-efficient design and 
utilization of transportation systems.

Evaluation Process

    The DOT Research and Technology Coordinating Council, chaired by 
the Director of Technology Deployment will appoint an Evaluation 
Committee to evaluate nominations under the prescribed criteria and to 
recommend recipients.
    Recommendations of the Evaluation Committee will be reviewed by a 
Selection Committee made up of members of the Research and Technology 
Steering Committee. Final selections will be made by the Secretary of 
Transportation.

Nominating Procedures

    Nominees can be individuals or organizations. For purposes of this 
award, organizations include but are not limited to: domestic 
corporations, including nonprofit corporations; partnerships; 
professional associations; institutions of higher education; Federal, 
State, or local government; and professional teams assembled for the 
specific projects. Nominations should be in the form of a letter and 
must demonstrate how the nominee meets the evaluation criteria. 
Nominations, which must be signed and should be no more than 10 pages 
in length, must include the following:
     Name and address of the individual or organization being 
nominated;
     Name, address, and telephone number of the point of 
contact at the nominating organization;
     A description of the accomplishments focusing on the 
evaluation criteria identified above;
     Recognition of accomplishments by peers, as indicated by 
awards, patents, etc.; and
     If the nominee is an organization, documentation that the 
nominee is a domestic concern (i.e., as the term 

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``domestic'' is defined in 26 U.S.C. 7701(a)(4)).
    Nominations must be postmarked by November 30, 1995, and should be 
sent to: Noah Rifkin, Director of Technology Deployment, Office of the 
Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 7th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20590, Room 10200.

    Issued this 24th day of October 1995, in Washington, DC.
Noah Rifkin,
Director of Technology Deployment.
[FR Doc. 95-27351 Filed 11-2-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-62-P