Father of the ITS Data Base (IDB) To Be Honored With SAE/Delco Intelligent Transportation Systems Award at SAE Congress

    WARRENDALE, Pa., Feb. 5 Allan M. Kirson, President,
FleetPath LLC, will receive the 2000 Society of Automotive Engineers
(SAE)/Delco Electronics Intelligent Transportation Systems Award at the SAE
2001 World Congress held at Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan, March 5-8.
    Presentation of the award will be made at the SAE Honors Convocation and
Luncheon on Tuesday, March 6.  The award recognizes individuals whose
outstanding technical accomplishments are judged to have significantly
advanced the state of the art in Intelligent Transportation Systems.
    Kirson is best known for his invention of the ITS Data Base (IDB), an
in-vehicle electronics interface that allows drivers to "plug and play" a
variety of electronic equipment such as personal computers, cell phones, CDs,
and fax machines into their vehicles.
    He spearheaded a series of successful public demonstrations of IDB
features and capabilities at national meetings and exhibitions.  Additionally,
he shepherded the development and acceptance of industry consensus standards
for IDB, engineered broad-based support for IDB in the automotive and ITS
industries, and created a highly successful manufacturer/user consortium for
the ongoing development and effective use of IDB.
    Kirson has been a Distinguished Industry Fellow at ITS America, and has
served as chair of the SAE ITS IDB Committee from 1992-2000.
    During his 22 years at Motorola, Kirson held positions of increasing
responsibility in engineering, operations, product marketing, business
development and technology.  He retired from Motorola in November, 1999 as a
senior member of the technical staff and Director, Global ITS Technology
Standards.

    For more information on SAE 2001 World Congress or to register for the
event, visit the SAE website at http://www.sae.org/congress or call
1-877-SAE-CONG(723-2664); outside the U.S. and Canada, call 1-724-772-4027.