Peter Sweatman

UMTRI director Dr. Peter Sweatman is an international leader in the scientific field of heavy vehicle-infrastructure interaction. He is a strong advocate for performance-based standards (PBS) as an improved method for regulating heavy vehicles. His work has been influential in developing truck size and weight evaluation tools for the Federal Highway Administration and the world's first comprehensive PBS regulatory regime for Australia.

Dr. Sweatman's research has crossed the boundaries of traditional engineering disciplines and his work has been widely recognized in the fields of vehicle design and engineering, vehicle safety, road safety, driver performance, highway condition monitoring, heavy vehicle standards and regulations, and transport economics and policy.

Dr. Sweatman has pioneered the scientific evaluation of the impacts of commercial vehicle operation on highway systems and has provided new analytical tools for dealing with the vital socio-economic issues concerned with road freight transport.

Prior to joining UMTRI in 2004, Dr. Sweatman built Roaduser Systems Pty Ltd, which specializes in research and development of the operations, productivity, and safety of heavy vehicles. He was also a chief scientist with Australian Road Research Board, founding and developing its heavy vehicle research program. He has also served on the Board of the Driver Education Centre of Australia, as chairman of the Australian Road Transport Suppliers Association, and on the Executive Board of SAE-A.

Dr. Sweatman was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) in 1997. In 2002 he was awarded the Centenary Medal by the Prime Minister of Australia for Service to Australian Society in Transportation Engineering. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and a Ph.D. in vehicle dynamics from the University of Melbourne.