Dr. Chris Atkinson is the Director of Smart Mobility and professor of mechanical
engineering at Ohio State University focusing on next-generation transportation
technologies. From 2014 to 2020 he served at the Advanced Research Projects
Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) in the US Department of Energy, where he developed
NEXTCAR, a $55 million program to use connectivity and automation to improve
vehicle energy efficiency. He is currently (2022) on detail at the US Department of
Transportation as Deputy Director for Advanced Research in the Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology. He has worked at the intersection
of energy efficiency, emissions reduction, mobility, and transportation for over 30
years, and is a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and of the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).