Swedish Scientist Receives 2012 IFPA Lifetime Achievement Award

Dr Ulf Sandberg Recognized for Valuable Scientific Contributions to Transportation Studies

Brooksville, FL -- The International Friction Pavement Association (IFPA), an agency created to develop and standardize friction pavement evaluations and techniques, has announced that Ulf Sandberg, Senior Research Scientist at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI), is the recipient of the 2012 IFPA Lifetime Achievement in Research and Science Award.

The award honors an individual who has made significant and fundamental contributions to pavement friction research, either through a single scientific discovery or a body of work. These contributions, whether in research, leadership, or mentorship, are recognized for their lasting impact on the scientific field and winners are selected based on their lifetime commitment to the development and improvement of friction technology. Dr Sandberg is being acknowledged for his lifetime of work devoted to the science and research of pavement-related studies.

Dr Sandberg, born 1946 in Visby, Sweden, obtained an MSc degree in electro-technical engineering at Chalmers University of Technology in 1972 and a PhD in measurement technology at Linkoping University in Sweden. In 2002-2008 he served as Adjunct Professor in Tire/Road Noise at Chalmers University. He serves as chairman and member of several standardization groups, including ISO, CEN and ASTM committees on pavement characteristics, and has initiated and led the development of five ISO standards on contactless pavement texture measurement; some of them also endorsed by the European standards organization (CEN) and used as the basis for ASTM standards. These standards are frequently referred to in road and airfield pavement measurements and several measuring devices have been developed to meet the requirements of these standards.

Dr Sandberg is also frequently contributing to the meetings of the Transportation Research Board (USA) committee AFD90 on Surface Properties and serves as a member of the ADC40 committee on Transportation Noise and the AFD00(1) subcommittee on Sustainable Pavement. His research has focused on tire/pavement interaction and explored the relations between texture, noise generation, rolling resistance and friction. He is perhaps mostly known for his 640-page Tire/Road Noise Reference Book (co-written with Prof J Ejsmont); a "bible" for everybody who works with this kind of tire/pavement interaction.

The 2012 IFPA Lifetime Achievement in Research and Science Award will be presented in Tampa, Florida (USA) at IFPA’s 2012 Runway Friction Certification Workshop, March 25-28, 2012. For more details visit www.intlfpa.org or call (813) 471-7026.

About The International Friction Pavement Association (IFPA)

IFPA, a not-for-profit organization, was formed in 2006 to provide both technical and industry expertise on issues related to pavement friction safety of international airfield and runway surfaces. IFPA’s mission is to gather pavement consultants, engineers, institutions, universities and airport operations staff to collaborate on improving research in the science of pavement friction testing for the betterment of transportation safety.