UK Engineering's Stamatiadis Receives Fulbright Award
LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 20, 2016) — Nikiforos Stamatiadis, the Raymond-Blythe Professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Civil Engineering, has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Scholar grant to teach and conduct research on transportation engineering, with a focus on highway design and safety, at the University of Catania in Catania, Italy.
Stamatiadis, who has been part of UK faculty since 1990, is among approximately 1,200 U.S. faculty and experienced professionals who will travel abroad for the 2016-2017 academic year through the prestigious program.
"I am looking forward to spending longer time with my Italian colleagues to work together and enhance our ability to coordinate our efforts and advance our common research interests," Stamatiadis said. "Moreover, the longer stay will provide me the opportunity to strengthen the relationships between UK and the University of Catania, lay the groundwork for future faculty and student exchanges and cement our existing ties and departmental agreements."
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the U.S. also provide direct and indirect support.
Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in more than 160 countries worldwide.
Stamatiadis' work in Italy will be an extension of his current research activities at UK: developing a systematic and comprehensive approach of identifying and evaluating highway design solutions that harmonize transportation requirements with community needs and values.
While there, he will simulate potential conflicts at intersections between vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists in order to understand their interactions with regards to safety. The goal is to develop tools that would allow decision-makers to evaluate alternative designs and identify designs that are more appropriate considering the roadway context.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Harder, 859-323-2396, whitney.harder@uky.edu