Suda to head DOT's Volpe Center

The Transportation Department named Robert Suda as acting director of its Volpe Center, the innovation center for the department’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), effective Jan. 14. Suda has been associate chief information officer for integration and operations at the Agriculture Department. Suda will come on board Jan. 6 as deputy director of the John A.Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, in Cambridge, Mass., and work closely with RITA leadership to smooth the transition to the new position, a DOT spokesman said Dec. 18. “Bob Suda has the background and experience necessary to help the Volpe Center excel as an internationally recognized center of transportation innovation,” said RITA Administrator Paul Brubaker in a statement. “Bob will ensure that the organization has the necessary support processes and is aligned to focus attention on national transportation priorities, such as using technology and innovation to achieve measurable improvements in safety and system performance.” The center is developing intelligent systems to help solve transportation challenges, including vehicle infrastructure integration, which aims to link vehicles with roads through sensor technology to essentially form a network, Brubaker said. Suda also has served as assistant commissioner of the Office of Information Technology Solutions at the General Service Administration’s Federal Technology Service and prior to that as chief financial officer of FTS. He also managed the governmentwide SmartBuy program for enterprise software licensing.