Dr. Chris Atkinson 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).