My professional life has been enriched greatly by AAAM and to assume the responsibility of president is truly an honor. I fully recognize that leading AAAM requires a team effort and assure you that the expertise of our AAAM members will be enlisted to accomplish the goals ahead.
We all extend our heartfelt thanks to Joel Stitzel for his skilled direction for the last two years. Joel has guided our organization with expertise and passion and has left a lasting mark at AAAM. Thank you, Joel!!!
Many thanks to everyone who contributed to a very successful AAAM Conference in Madrid! We had a record number of 126 attendees for a meeting held outside of the United States – what an amazing turnout. Our attendees represented 23 countries and 6 out of 7 continents. The conference featured two excellent keynote addresses by Dr. Mark Rosekind and Dr. Jac Wismans and AAAM’s first-ever Special Interest Group Special Sessions on Automated Vehicles and Road Safety in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. AAAM also had its highest number of original research presentations from authors presenting full papers, short communications, and posters. The conference could not have been possible without the hard work and attention from so many, including: our sponsors (link); Matt Maltese, Chair of the Scientific Program Committee (SPC), members of the SPC, Jason Hallman, Annual Program Subcommittee Chair, SIG chairs Brian Fildes and Aditya Belwadi. A huge round of applause goes to Fran Lopez-Valdes for being an amazing ambassador and local host. We couldn’t have done it without him! You can read more about the happenings at our conference in this edition of INROADS. Friendly reminder, the 2020 Call for Abstracts (full papers) will open in November and the deadline for submission is December 16th. Submit your research and join us in Portland, Oregon for the 64th Annual Scientific Conference October 13 – 16, 2020.
I’m also pleased that AAAM Committees and Special Interest Groups had an opportunity to meet in person while in Madrid. Our volunteers are working hard on exciting, new initiatives for 2020. There’s still time for you to get involved. Make the most of your membership and lend your voice and knowledge to the AAAM community!
We are fortunate to have so much to celebrate this year – new SIG Special Sessions at the conference, travel awards for presenters, and granting a $20,000 Scholar’s Award. This is an exciting time for AAAM and I’m looking forward to a fantastic 2020. AAAM will be refreshing the organization’s strategic plan and in that process, we will be seeking input from members and volunteers on your ideas for the future of AAAM.
AAAM has much to accomplish as we view our mission of “Reducing road traffic fatalities worldwide”. I am very excited to address the challenges ahead and look forward to working with the AAAM Committees, Special Interest Groups, the Board of Directors and our esteemed Katie Keel as we direct our attention to making the AAAM mission a reality.