Note:

There will be food and drinks. We request a donation of $3 per person on-site for the food and drinks.

The SPARTAN Superway is a long-range research initiative at San Jose State University to establish solar powered automated rapid transit ascendant network (“SPARTAN”) systems for urban environments. Founded in 2012 by Professor Burford “Buff” Furman and Ron Swenson of The International Institute of Sustainable Transportation (INIST), since its inception more than 200 students, mentors, and faculty have done extensive research, published a major study, written numerous publications, produced functional prototypes of key subsystems, and established an international alliance of universities and industry collaborators on the pathway to commercialization.

The evening will consist of a presentation about the Superway project and recent developments and a tour of functional models that demonstrate key aspects of SPARTAN technology.

BIOS:

Burford (Buff) Furman (SJSU)

Burford (Buff) Furman is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at San Jose State University, where he has been since 1994. Prior to SJSU, he worked in disk drive development at IBM in San Jose from 1982 to 1993. He is also a registered professional mechanical engineer in the state of California since 1984. His areas of teaching and research are focused primarily in mechatronics, Automated Transit Networks (ATN), precision machine design, and dynamics.

Buff is a Research Associate with the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) and was the Principal Investigator for a major study on the state of the ATN industry published by MTI in 2014. Since 2012, he has been working intensely with interdisciplinary groups of students to develop solar powered ATN.

Ron Swenson (INIST)

Ron Swenson is President of the International Institute of Sustainable Transportation (non-profit) which has been a lead sponsor and advisor for the Spartan Superway andrelated student solar initiatives. The Institute organizes the annual international Podcar City Conference which has hosted the leaders in automated public transit for 10 years in Europe and the USA.

Ron has done extensive research and development in solar powered transportation, building a prototype solar-powered electric tricycle (1981), a solar race car in Mexico [masked]), several electric bicycles and a solar powered utility vehicle [masked]), all which served to seed the development of solar powered automated public transit in conjunction with San Jose State University (2012-present).

Ron is also President of Swenson Solar, developer of commercial solar systems and an ecovillage of approximately 100 solar powered homes and apartments in Santa Cruz, California. He is a Fellow, Life member, and former Board member of the American Solar Energy Society.

Eric Hagstrom (SJSU)

Eric Hagstrom received his Bachelors of Science in MechanicalEngineering from San Jose State University in 2016, and has instructed senior mechanical engineering students working on the Spartan Superway project. In the summer, he manages the Spartan Superway Research Internship Program (SSRIP) that engages both international and domestic engineering students in interdisciplinary research and development for the Spartan Superway project.

When Eric is not spending time as an instructor, he is the General Manager for the Spartan Superway Project.