SAS Consultant Jim Trogdon Joins AMC Board of Advisors, Katy Salamati Joins AMC Experts in Residence

WAKE FOREST, N.C. and CARY, N.C. (June 1, 2021)

SAS, the leader in analytics, joined the Advanced Mobility Collective, a nonprofit global community fostering new mobility and transportation services for people and freight.

SAS joins a growing number of business and government partners in The Collective to accelerate new uses of vehicles on the ground, in the air and at sea – all moving toward autonomous vehicles and systems. Jim Trogdon, who orchestrated many advanced mobility initiatives as the leader of the N.C. Department of Transportation, is a SAS principal transportation consultant for the U.S. commercial and public sector. Trogdon will join the AMC Advisory Board. Katy Salamati, a SAS senior transportation and infrastructure consultant, is joining the AMC Experts in Residence team.

“As an innovator in analytics for more than four decades, SAS is at the forefront of advancing technology,” said Todd Spain, executive director of the Advanced Mobility Collective. “Transportation and mobility, the movement of people and goods, is evolving rapidly. SAS is an important partner in this collaborative effort helping us all focus on the digital infrastructure – data, communications and physical infrastructure – to advance smart transportation and mobility.
We are fortunate to have SAS leaders help us develop real-world examples to showcase the transformational opportunities taking shape now, initially focused on healthcare and emergency management to respond to disasters.”

Trogdon led the N.C. Department of Transportation from 2017 until his retirement in 2020. He served almost three decades at the department, including five years as the chief operating officer. Earlier in his career, he worked with the N.C. General Assembly as director of strategic transportation. Trogdon also has 36 years of military service, a majority in the National Guard and retired in 2016 as a major general and deputy adjutant general for the N.C. National Guard.

“Transportation innovation is accelerating with the convergence of 5G wireless connectivity and massive data from the Internet of Things merged with connected air and ground vehicles,” Trogdon said. “The vehicles are evolving into autonomous smart machines which will rely on analytics, artificial intelligence and edge computing to revolutionize mobility for people and freight. We are excited to be a part of the AMC community and collaborating with other members to bring these ideas to market.”

Salamati works with government and commercial transportation, logistics and supply chain agencies applying advanced analytics and AI. Her work on transportation and infrastructure technology initiatives include connected and autonomous vehicles, and smart cities. “Smart cities and advanced mobility will require real-time decision making and high-performance analytical and predictive modeling at large scale,” Salamati said. “Connected, and even autonomous vehicles will transform mobility and generate vast amounts of data to improve the flow of freight, reduce congestion and improve safety and overall quality of life for us all.”

The Collective is continuing to build and expand its network of partners as an economic development initiative of The Wireless Research Center.

About the Advanced Mobility Collective

The Advanced Mobility Collective is a private, nonprofit facilitator of innovation building an ecosystem of business, government and research partners to birth new mobility services. As a catalyst for collaboration worldwide, the Collective reduces barriers and unites essential components for new mobility and transportation services. The Collective is actively seeking partners to join the global conversation. For more information, visit www.amc.org

About SAS

SAS is the leader in analytics. Through innovative software and services, SAS empowers and inspires customers around the world to transform data into intelligence. SAS gives you THE POWER TO KNOW®.

About the Wireless Research Center

The WRC is a nonprofit organization supporting clients globally with unique applied research, engineering services and testing for communication technologies. The WRC accelerates the rate of scientific innovation as a network design and Internet of Things (IoT) consultant and certified testing facility for the CTIA and many wireless network providers. The WRC fosters innovation and collaboration among commercial partners, industry groups, academic institutions and research organizations. The WRC is leading the deployment and operation of advanced wireless 5G testbeds for the nation’s third advanced wireless research platform supported by an industry consortium and a $24 million grant from the National Science Foundation. Initial testbeds for autonomous drone and mobility systems are planned for Raleigh and Cary in North Carolina. For more information, visit www.wrc-nc.org

Media Contact

Scott Yates (for the WRC and The Collective)
919-649-6621
scott@onpointprgroup.com

Trent Smith (for SAS)
919-531-4726
Trent.Smith@sas.com