Skip to main content

TRL expert assists FEHRL in Brussels

The new executive director of the Brussels-based Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories (FEHRL) will be director of infrastructure at the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) Bob Collis. This international association comprises 30 national research and technical institutes from across Europe, with links to non-European countries. FEHRL’s mission is to promote and facilitate collaboration on road research and provide high quality information and advice on technologies and policies rela
January 25, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The Brussels-based 1364 Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories (FEHRL) has appointed Bob Collis as an executive director. Collis has long experience of the field from being director of infrastructure at the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (777 TRL). Kjersti Kvalheim Dunham (NPRA) was also elected as a new FEC member for the next three years. They join the existing members of Andrzej Urbanik (IBDIM), Lutz Pinkofsky (BASt) and chairman Bojan Leben (ZAG). The international association, FEHRL, comprises 30 national research and technical institutes from across Europe, with links to non-European countries.  FEHRL’s mission is to promote and facilitate collaboration on road research and provide high quality information and advice on technologies and policies related to roads. Collis, along with colleagues from several FEHRL institutes across Europe, was responsible for developing the Forever Open Road roadmaps for research and development, forming the core to FEHRL’s Fifth Strategic Road Research Programme. This visionary concept started life at TRL, and is aimed at developing the next generation of roads, enabling them to be adaptable, automated and climate change resilient; a concept that could be applied to existing and new roads, regardless of geographical location or type. 

Collis currently chairs the HA/QPA/MPA collaborative research programme for asphalt roads and is also a member of the World Road Association’s UK Executive Committee.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Bitumen technology: counting carbon emissions from road works
    March 13, 2024
    This month we look at accurate carbon counting, a biobinder that does not come at a premium and efforts to increase recycled content - Kristina Smith reports
  • IRF Members launch regional committee for Central Asia
    October 23, 2017
    Against a background of unprecedented connectivity investments bridging East and West, the formation of a regional committee will assist member organisations. It will allow them to gain access to a wider pool of knowledge on regional infrastructure programmes, and solutions designed to optimise road investments. Central Asia is a loosely defined geographic area bridging the eastern fringes of Europe to the borders of China. Common factors between these countries include a shared history of relatively recen
  • Develop the Silk Roads, boost economic growth
    February 28, 2012
    Tony Pearce, honorary life member and former director-general of IRF Geneva, recalls the history of the Silk Roads, highlights their continued economic relevance and introduces IRF's active long-term commitment to their rehabilitation. The Silk Roads had their origins in a Chinese military mission in 138BC to purchase horses in Central Asia's Fergana Valley that were reputed to run so fast that they sweated blood. When General Chang Ch'ien reached Fergana, now in Uzbekistan, he found that the fabled horses
  • Lindsay and Nexco reflect on the value of IRF’s global industry network
    October 18, 2016
    In 2015, Nexco East introduced a moveable barrier system in Japan, creating safer work zones along the Joban Expressway, north of Tokyo. Two of the main actors behind this project look back at how it came to life and the role of IRF. Masato Matsumoto: I graduated in 2006 from the IRF Fellowship Programme. As a young professional, becoming an IRF Fellow was a life-changing opportunity. It allowed me to meet industry executives from around world and start building a professional network. Armed with this expe