On 22nd November, 2011, rCITI came to be. It has been an impressive trajectory for the centre which began with the initial support from NICTA (now CSIRO's Data61), Evans and Peck (now Advisian) and UNSW Engineering.
Partners from industry, government and academia, amongst them numerous rCITI alumni, came together to celebrate this significant milestone with rCITI. UNSW Provost Professor Anne Simmons took guests for a walk down memory lane in celebration of the diverse and expansive research and education undertaken, which provided a glimpse of what rCITI has achieved and the impact the centre’s research has had globally.
Enthralling the audience with his keynote speech, the Hon. Dr. Robert Stokes, MP, NSW Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Cities, and the Minister for Active Transport congratulated the university on rCITI’s achievements and turned to the tasks ahead, highlighting the importance and significance of research and work currently undertaken to future-proof transport as well as the integral part technology plays in providing fundamental solutions.
rCITI Director Professor Vinayak Dixit put people at the heart of what rCITI does and emphasised that “this would not have been possible without our wonderful students, staff, collaborators and partners at universities around the world, as well as industry (Suncorp Group, IAG, Nexport, Google, to name a few) and government partners (amongst them Transport for NSW, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways – India) who have trusted us.”
Emphasising the fundamental need of mobility for any flourishing society that enables people to access resources and opportunities, Professor Dixit’s sentiment was very much about the future and that collectively, the centre’s research would significantly contribute to developing cleaner, safer and more efficient transport systems. Critical contributors to this societal challenge are rCITI’s cutting-edge research and development of technology and tools in bio-secure mobility, human factors, integrated transport planning and management, connected mobility and smart cities as well as complex multi-criteria and multi-disciplinary data-driven decisions.