Smart highway design advances to top 10 in national competition
Author: UNB Newsroom
Posted on May 14, 2018
Category: UNB Fredericton
A student proposal for a smart highway concept has advanced to the top 10 of the CanInfra Challenge, a nation-wide transformational infrastructure competition.
Originally conceived by a team of business students from the University of New Brunswick’s Saint John campus, the proposal is for a smart highway design that feeds vital road, traffic and weather data to drivers, self-driving cars and road maintenance crews.
Nakul Gupta, one of the team members continuing with the project, has tweaked the original concept to make it to the top 10 in the competition. Initially designed to create a smart road network for autonomous vehicles, it now benefits all road users in a sustainable manner.
Mr. Gupta plans to donate all winnings from the competition to local charities, as well as to the flood relief efforts.
The top 10 teams each received reimbursement for expenses up to $5,000 to further develop proposals and travel to Toronto to pitch their ideas on May 28. The overall winner from the third and final round receives $50,000 and a pitch session with senior government and private-sector leaders, while second place and people’s choice each receive $25,000.
Winners will be announced on May 29 at the CanInfra Summit.
To see more details of their project and to vote online, visit SmartRoads.ca.
Media contact: Heather Campbell