Industry veteran Michael Sheldrick passed away last week. Sheldrick, 82, who worked not only as a journalist for Business Week, Fleet Management Weekly and other publications, was a sought-after speaker at industry conferences and trade shows. In 1990, he authored Driving While Automated for Scientific American, which was many years before autonomous car systems were being produced.
He was a pioneer in the digital map and telematics industries, working at Etak as director, automotive business development. He also held positions at DeCarta, C.J. Driscoll & Associates and other telematics companies.
He was a founding member of Washington-based Intelligent Transportation Society of America. In 1992, he was a co-author of the Strategic Plan for Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems in the United States, as part of an industry fellowship with IVHS America, which later became ITS America. The strategic plan was a blueprint that led to the development of such intelligent transportation technologies as telematics, vehicle navigation, maps, vehicle-to-everything communications (V2X), electronic tolling, connected and autonomous vehicles and many others that are in use by millions today.
For more information on Mike Sheldrick go to Fleet Management Weekly for a tribute.
