Autonomous Vehicles in California

Speaker:
Bernard C. Soriano
Deputy Director
California Department of Motor Vehicles

Abstract

The transportation industry is in the middle of a transformation with the advent of autonomous, or self-driving, vehicles.  Much of this is happening in California, as automotive manufacturers, supplier companies, and technology firms all work to develop this advancement.  The work is high technical, involving advanced sensors, high-powered computing, and artificial intelligence, and machine learning.  In addition, there are social, economic, and regulatory aspects to this technology.  Dr. Soriano will speak to the autonomous vehicle activities occurring throughout the state and the issues involved.

Biographical Sketch

Bernard C. Soriano is a Deputy Director for the California Department of Motor Vehicles and is in charge of California’s autonomous vehicles program. He has over 35 years of engineering and management experience in the private and public sector. He previously held engineering and management positions at Hughes Space and Communications, Inc. (now Boeing), where he designed spacecraft attitude control systems and was involved in their launch missions.

Bernard holds a Ph.D. in Engineering from U.C. Irvine, a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Southern California, and a B.S. in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering from U.C. Davis. He also holds an M.B.A. from California State University, Sacramento.  He was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve and has numerous publications and patents.  In addition, he was as a finalist in the NASA astronaut candidate program.

For more information, visit the ITS-Davis Website