TTI’s Dean Alberson and Lance Bullard (center) were honored for their development of the Heart Crash Cushion. Also pictured are (L) Vice Chancellor for Technology Commercialization Guy Diedrich and (R) Texas A&M University System Chancellor Mike McKinney.
The HEART Crash Cushion is much easier to say than the Hybrid Energy Absorbing Reusable Terminal. But that’s what it is. The crash cushion, developed by Texas A&M Transportation Institute researchers Dean Alberson and Lance Bullard, is designed to be reusable after most crashes and therefore, a money saving product for taxpayers.
Alberson and Bullard were honored February 23, 2007 by the Texas A&M University System Office of Technology Commercialization during its 2007 Patent and Innovation Awards Luncheon. In all, 21 Texas A&M researchers were recognized for their ideas.
“It was a five-year project to get the HEART Crash Cushion developed, tested and patented,” Alberson said. “We came up with the idea on a notion that we could improve what was on the road at the time.”
Alberson says the Federal Highway Administration has given its acceptance to the crash cushion.
See the full story in the March 2007 issue of the Texas Transportation Researcher. (PDF)