FHWA, Mexican University Join To Establish Technology Transfer Center |
|---|
|
Federal Highway Administration
August 13, 1999
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, August 13, 1999
Contact: Jim Pinkelman
Tel.: 202-366-0660
FHWA 55-99
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon in Mexico have joined to open the Nuevo Leon Technology Transfer Center to offer training in highway infrastructure to transportation professionals and technicians in Mexico and the United States.
"As transportation systems bring the nations and people of the world closer in the 21st century, Mexico and the United States continue to improve safety, travel and the flow of commerce along our borders," U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater said. "This technology transfer center will reinforce our partnership and help make transportation safer and more efficient in both countries."
The center will be in the College of Civil Engineering at the university, which is located in Monterrey, the capital of the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon. Both the university and the FHWA will provide instructors and equipment for the center. Courses will be available to transportation professionals and technicians who want to learn the latest methods and technologies for highway planning, design and construction.
"We are committed to strengthening communication between the United States and Mexico," FHWA Administrator Kenneth R. Wykle said. "This center will be a good opportunity for public and private highway designers and developers in our two nations to interact, exchange information, and develop mutually beneficial working relationships."
Other technology transfer centers will be established in the states of California, Chihuahua, Tamaulipas and Coahuila. One already is functioning in the state of Sonora. The FHWA also will provide support to those centers.
In May 1999, the Nuevo Leon center hosted PROVIAL, a highway maintenance seminar program that focuses on raising the importance and awareness of highway maintenance in Latin American and Caribbean countries. The seminar drew representatives from the private and public sectors involved with highway and transportation infrastructure.
The seminar, only the second of its kind organized along the U.S.-Mexico border, is one of numerous activities in support of the U.S.-Mexico Border Technology Exchange Program (BTEP). A third seminar for the year 2000 will be hosted by the state of Baja California.