Industry and academia meet at first Hamilton Ontario TRANSLOG Transportation Conference

June 15, 2009 Hamilton Ontario – Following the successful launch of the McMaster Institute for Transportation and Logistics (MITL) Gateway Study, MITL brings together industry and academia to push forward the concept of Hamilton’s future as a key transportation hub at TRANSLOG 2009. MITL will host the two day event on the McMaster University campus on June 17-18.

An impressive cross-section of Ontario leaders, including Chamber of Marine Commerce President, Ray Johnston and Ministry of Transportation goods movement policy manager, James Perttula. The unique format of the event is designed to engage transportation professionals and research professors to share concepts and link projects to support growth in the region’s transportation sector.

Themes including urban design, planning, environment, modal connectivity and the creation of more sustainable transportation and logistics networks will be presented in papers by over 40 academics representing more than a dozen educational institutions. Pavlos Kanaroglou, Director of MITL and School of Geography/Earth Sciences offers, “The world around us is changing at a rapid pace, responding to economic restructuring and increasing environmental concerns. The Transportation and Logistics sectors play a fundamental role and the conference explores these themes from the perspectives of the private and public sectors, as well as the view of academia."

Attendance is encouraged from all sectors of industry, government and academia. MITL is planning for a delegate audience of more than 100 leaders. “This event is an exciting opportunity for business leaders to learn about all the activities that are going on in the transportation and logistics industry, to learn about the MITL and its workings and how business can leverage the institute and to learn from leading academics on the benefits of transportation and logistics as an economic driver,” said Carego Group of Companies president and MITL advisory board chair Demetrius Tsafaridis.

An expert panel from industry will outline innovation in the transportation field from across the modes, complimenting the research papers being presented throughout the agenda. "Hamilton has, and continues to focus on goods movement. The work of the MITL is a tremendous enabler to growing this cluster. The City is looking forward to the new ideas and direction coming out of the Translog conference, " said City of Hamilton economic development and real estate planning director Neil Everson.

Kanaroglou says this year’s conference aims to provide participants with the tools, technologies and processes they need to plan better, change travel behavior, improve safety and get more out of what we have
For detailed information on TRANSLOG 2009 visit http://mitl.mcmaster.ca/translog/index.html.