The current technological landscape, marked by advances in AI (especially generative and multimodal models), final arrival of sophisticated wearable devices (remember Google Glasses ?), and an industry focus towards human-centric goals, presents a unique opportunity to redefine transportation.  Traditionally, transportation research has prioritized efficiency, but this new era allows for a focus on human well-being, inclusivity, safety, and personal empowerment.  MLLM illustr

The academic engineering paper, a cornerstone of scientific discourse, is in the midst of a profound, albeit quiet, identity crisis. Its primary author is increasingly an AI, and its most diligent reader is also an AI. Large Language Models (LLMs) now assist in drafting everything from literature reviews to methodology sections, while other algorithms parse, summarize, and categorize these papers for databases and discovery tools. In this new ecosystem, the traditional paper