Where are They Now: MTC Students of the Year

Transcription

1 MIDWEST TRANSPORTATION CONSORTIUM ~ ~ Vol. 8, Issue 1 Where are They Now: MTC Students of the Year MTC Students of the Year are chosen for their outstanding research and scholarship. Each MTC Student of the Year has gone on to a successful career in transportation. They are making a difference, whether they chose a career in academia, industry, or government. Vanessa Amando, 2001 David J. White, 1999 Current position: Iowa State University geotechnical engineering faculty Winning the award gave me a chance to travel to the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting for the first time, which has since been an annual event for me. I m now heavily involved with TRB committees and networking with others interested in solving geo-infrastructure related problems. Also, I had the opportunity to meet the Secretary of Transportation, which was a lot of fun. The most exciting project I m working on now is definitely intelligent compaction research in the Australian outback. It s tough country but exciting for sure. Jerry Shadewald, 2000 Current position: HNTB transportation consultant Contents 1 Where are they now: MTC students of the year 2 Director's message 3 MTC student of the year Fall scholars conference Completed research 4 Students at TRB 2007: what they learned 6 Spring transportation seminars 2008 Current position: CMA Architects & Engineers, LLP, civil engineer, transportation department The MTC allowed me to attend various student and national conferences. I met a wonderful role model, Dr. Sue McNeil, during one of the TRB annual meetings, who later sent me papers to review. The most challenging project I ve worked on is the traffic study of the urban interchange of PR-2 and PR-114 intersection in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. The project requires a traffic study of the entire network for the before and future conditions, and I m in charge of conducting the micro simulation study using TSIS/CORSIM. David Veneziano, 2002 Current position: I am employed by the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University as a research scientist. There are a couple of ways in which the MTC helped to prepare me for my job. The first is, of course, through its role in funding some of the research projects I worked on throughout grad school. Those projects were what prepared me for what I now do every day as a researcher. The second way is through the exposure to different aspects and subject areas of transportation, through activities such as the Transportation Scholars Seminar. That certainly helped me to narrow my focus in terms of what my interests are and subsequently guided my professional development and career path. Where are they now? continued on page 5

2 MTC Asset, published twice a year, promotes the Midwest Transportation Consortium s (MTC) research, outreach, and education programs for developing sustainable asset management principles and techniques. This free newsletter is financed by the MTC. The MTC is the U.S. Department of Transportation s University Transportation Center for Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. The MTC is located at Iowa State University s Center for Transportation Research and Education. Midwest Transportation Consortium Center for Transportation Research and Education ISU Research Park 2901 S. Loop Drive, Suite 3100 Ames, IA Voice: Fax: Tom Maze MTC Director tmaze@iastate.edu Charles Nemmers MTC Associate Director nemmersc@missouri.edu Michele Regenold Editor mregenol@iastate.edu Rebekah Bovenmyer Writer Mina Shin Layout Iowa State University and the Center for Transportation Research and Education provide equal opportunities and comply with ADA requirements in programs and employment. Call the Affirmative Action. Tom Maze, MTC Director Director s Message This year will be a year of change at the MTC as we wrap up the regional University Transportation Center and establish a Tier 1 center. I could not start any message without mentioning the tragic passage of David Forkenbrock in January this year. While director and founder of the Public Policy Institute at the University of Iowa he was also part of the founding team that originally developed the MTC (then the Midwest Transportation Center). Working first with Benjamin Allen (now president of the University of Northern Iowa) in 1988 and then as my partner and associate director from 1989 through 1995, David had many lasting impacts on the MTC including early key research projects and co-development of the Transportation Scholars program. David had a lasting impact on the MTC and helped to make Iowa a hot bed for transportation policy, economics, and safety research. Like many individuals that dominate any field of study, David could often be challenging, but his spark and genius will be sorely missed. This year will be a year of change at the MTC as we wrap up the regional University Transportation Center and establish a Tier 1 center. There are two differences between the two, although both types of centers are funded though the same U.S. DOT program. The first difference is that regional centers are funded at a higher level, nominally $2 million dollars per year with an equal amount of non-federal matching funds. Tier 1 centers are nominally funded at $1 million dollars per year with an equal about of non-federal matching funds. The other significant difference is that the regional center represents all the states in the federal region. Our region includes Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. While a Tier 1 center only represents its theme and its member universities. Otherwise, both types of centers essentially do the same things: conduct a competitive research program, conduct a graduate transportation educational program, and conduct a technology transfer program. Although our old regional center was highly safety oriented, the new theme will only focus on transportation safety. Our partners include the three state Iowa universities, and we are currently reestablishing our program including the traditional seminar series which will now be more safety oriented. It has been some years since the University of Iowa and Iowa State University have been linked together in the same University Transportation Center, and we will hope to make ties between the traditional skills of crash records and analysis of the University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State with the world-class human factors capabilities of the University of Iowa. 2

3 Iowa State University PhD student Eric Fitzsimmons was named MTC Student of the Year for Fitzsimmons was selected based upon his strong record of research and scholarship. Fitzsimmons researches traffic calming, red light running, and roundabouts. He s currently working with Shauna Hallmark on several projects, including the MTC project Achieving Efficiency in Meeting Safety, Operations, Maintenance, and Air Quality Goals. He co-presented Electronic Speed Feedback Signs as a Rural Community Traffic Calming Measure at the 2007 MTC Symposium with Shauna Hallmark, Neal Hawkins, Jon Resler, and David Plazak. Fitzsimmons also won the best paper award at the 2007 MTC Fall Student Conference (see below). Fitzsimmons received both his BS and MS degrees in civil engineering from Iowa State University. He is in his first year of the PhD program. MTC Student of the Year 2007 From left to right: Dr. Rod Diridon, president of the Council of University Transportation Centers; Paul Brubaker, administrator, US DOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration; Eric Fitzsimmons; Norman Y. Mineta, former US Secretary of Transportation Fall Scholars Conference 2007 Eight students papers were accepted to the 2007 MTC Scholars Conference at Iowa State University last November. Eric Fitzsimmons, PhD student in civil engineering at Iowa State University, won the student paper competition for his paper, An Investigation of the Change in Crash Rates at Automated Red Light Running Enforced and Comparison Intersections in Davenport and Council Bluffs, Iowa Using Descriptive Statistics. He was awarded $1,000. Other papers included the following: Marketing Safety to Teens: State Literature Review and Analysis (Rebekah Bovenmyer, Iowa State University) Comparative Analysis of Conventional Diamond Interchange and Contra Flow Left Turn (CFL) Interchange (Indrajit Chatterjee and Siddharth Sharma, University of Missouri Columbia) The Emergency Transportation Operations within the Intelligent Transportation System (Josh Hinds, Iowa State University) Back row, left to right: Cari Kinzenbaw, Eric Fitzsimmons, and Ryan Pettit. Front row: Siddharth Sharma and Indrajit Chatterjee. Not pictured: Rebekah Bovenmyer, Josh Hinds, and Craig Mizera. Effectiveness of Intersection Lighting (Cari Kinzenbaw, Iowa State University) Congestion Mitigation: Programs and Strategies (Craig Mizera, Iowa State University) Economic Impacts of Highway Bypasses on Communities in Iowa (Ryan Pettit, Iowa State University) Performance Evaluation of the Diverging Diamond Interchange in Comparison with the Conventional Diamond Interchange (Siddharth Sharma and Indrajit Chatterjee, University of Missouri Columbia) These papers are available at 3

4 Completed Research Optimization of Intermodal Logistics Operations in Disaster Planning Mehmet Bayram Yildirim, Wichita State University Given the incredible demands that the hurricane-affected areas face, America needs to carefully plan disaster relief logistics in order to have the right amount of material at the right place at the right time. In this project, we would like to identify how intermodal transportation can help disaster planners to efficiently deliver disaster relief to the affected areas in minimal amount of time. Investigation of Methodologies Used by Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) Motor Carriers to Determine Fuel Surcharges John L. Kent, Missouri State University For over 20 years, fuel surcharges have been periodically added to transportation invoices in an effort by the transportation provider to recover temporary spikes in fuel prices. However, for the past three years, fuel surcharges have been a constant component on transportation invoices as fuel costs have continued to rise. Based on in-depth interviews with Mihlfeld and Associates (a third-party logistics company whose core competency is LTL transportation), an industry standard methodology accepted by both the carrier and shipper for calculating fuel surcharges does not exist. Development of Fatigue Design Procedures for Slender, Tapered Support Structures for Highway Signs, Luminaries, and Traffic Signals Subjected to Wind-Induced Excitation from Vortex Shedding and Buffeting Brent Phares, Iowa State University The primary objective of this study was to develop a procedure for predicting wind loads in the time domain for the fatigue design of slender, tapered luminary support structures. To accomplish this, monitoring of long-term response behavior of a high mast light pole (HMLP) subjected to windinduced vibration was needed. This was accomplished by full-scale measurement of the response of an HMLP located near Mason City next to I-35 in Iowa. Wind tunnel testing was also conducted to determine the required aerodynamic parameters of the pole cross section. Further, these aerodynamic parameters were cast into a coupled dynamic model for predicting the response of any HMLP in the time domain. Finally, the model was validated by comparing its results with the data collected from field monitoring. Students at TRB 2007: What They Learned Students mingle during the Iowa reception at TRB. Rebekah Bovenmyer This was my first time at the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting. I attended presentations that helped me write articles for Go! and connected with people who might be interested in supporting the magazine. Xudong Chai I attended many sessions, especially in traffic operations and planning. One of the sessions talked about traffic safety and long-range transportation planning modeling. Listening to their presentations, visiting their websites, and reading their documents gave me fresh ideas about how to add new content to their research. Eric Fitzsimmons This year s trip provided me the unique opportunity to meet with individuals and researchers that have experience in my proposed automated enforcement dissertation research. Furthermore, this trip provided me an opportunity to explore other areas of civil engineering including airport and railroad engineering. Hillary Isebrands The TRB Annual Meeting provides me more opportunities to learn and network each year I attend. This year I took on a new role where I am a committee member of the newly formed TRB Roundabout Task Force (formerly a subcommittee). I look forward to the opportunities and challenges that this responsibility presents for me in the future. Cari Kinzenbaw On top of the meetings and presentations, I had great networking opportunities with different professionals in the transportation engineering field. Some of those have resulted in interviews and job offers. Matt Ludwig I attended several interesting sessions. One was a poster session titled Public Involvement in Transportation. Another useful session was called Transportation-related Right-of-Way Issues. One specific part of this presentation that I was interested in was the particular ways to solve access management problems, ranging from creating private frontage roads to developing backage roads behind properties. Christian Sax One of the most exciting experiences I had at TRB came at the Eisenhower poster session. I met a student from Florida A&M who was presenting about breakaway objects in the clear zone, a topic that complements my own research. While talking with him I met another student from the University of California at Berkeley who is studying the economic impact of increasing clear zone distances, another topic that complements my own research on the safety impact of the allotted clear zone distance. These students and I plan to continue to contact each other as we get more into our research in order to exchange findings. 4

5 Where are They Now: MTC Students of the Year MTC Asset Where are they now? continued from page 1 Jamie Tunnell Bents, 2003 Current position: I currently work for Snyder & Associates, Inc., Ankeny, Iowa, as a transportation planner. I believe the Student of the Year designation helped me to step up my studies and research and also pushed me to better focus on my future career. The MTC allowed me to meet more professionals in the transportation sector and helped me decide how I wanted to fit into the sector after graduation. The most challenging and exciting project I am working on now is the NW 26th Street Environmental Impact Statement in Polk County, Iowa. The project area includes many sensitive areas, yet the proposed project has the ability to benefit thousands in the metro area. Justin Doornink, 2004 Current position: I am currently a bridge designer with T.Y. Lin International in Portland, Oregon. I was able to submit a paper to and give a presentation in the Transportation Scholars Conference. Participation in this conference reinforced that both written and oral communication is an important part of the civil engineering profession. The most exciting project that I have been involved with is the Sellwood Bridge Project in Multnomah County, Oregon. I helped develop the conceptual designs for the post-tensioned box girder approach spans for three alternative bridge types that are being considered to replace the existing Sellwood Bridge. Hillary Isebrands, 2005 Current position: PhD, civil engineering (transportation engineering), Iowa State University, expected graduation date is August 2008 The continued support from MTC allowed me to contribute to multiple traffic and safety projects (local and national) while being a graduate student. Additionally, the MTC support was instrumental in allowing me to attend TRB and establish myself in the research community where I now sit on the TRB Roundabout Task Force. I plan to continue with transportation (design, traffic, and safety) engineering projects in the arenas of research, technology transfer, teaching, and consulting. My dissertation is titled Quantifying Safety Impacts of Roundabouts at High-Speed Rural Intersections I also am working on 1. MnDOT/LRRB on a study looking at the impact of roundabouts on corridors. 2. Iowa DOT - Roundabout Task Force and Roundabout Education 3. Pedestrian safety study with ISU 4. Iowa Large Traffic Events Joshua Hochstein, 2006 Current position: PhD, civil engineering (transportation engineering), Iowa State University, expected graduation date is May 2009 My research interests include roadway design and traffic safety data analysis. For my PhD dissertation, I will be helping the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) develop an expressway intersection safety design toolbox for use in determining the most effective solutions at existing problem locations which will potentially be incorporated into the Iowa DOT Design Manual. Additionally, we will determine the top 10 or 20 expressway intersections across Iowa experiencing safety problems and develop a database including traffic data, geometrics, and crash data to determine potential safety improvements for each site and the most promising locations for deploying innovative rural expressway intersection designs. After I graduate, I would like to continue doing transportation research in whatever capacity (as a full-time researcher or a university professor) in order to bring about safer, more efficient, and more affordable transportation for all Americans. 5

6 Spring Transportation Seminars 2008 MTC Asset Each seminar is broadcast each Friday at 10:00 a.m. in real-time to students at Iowa State University, University of Northern Iowa, and other sites in Missouri via Internet-based compressed videoconferencing technology. For information about participating sites, contact David Plazak, Jan. 18 Jan. 25 Feb. 1 Feb. 8 Nemmers/Vap/McDonald (UMC), Safety Corridors: National Summary John Donahue (MoDOT) and Dean Bierwagen (Iowa DOT), Rapid Concrete Pavement Replacement: A Safety Strategy Cancelled due to weather Lesley Hoffarth (MoDOT), Total Highway Closure as an Option During Reconstruction Feb. 15 Feb. 22 Feb. 29 Mar. 7 Mar. 14 Mar. 21 Mar. 28 Rudy Umbs (FHWA), Your Legacy in Highway Safety Kevin Blanshan (Waterloo/Cedar Falls MPO) and Tom Kane (Des Moines MPO), Metropolitan Planning Organizations: Today s Challenges and Tomorrow s Directions Ron Achelpohl (MARC), Highway Safety in the Kansas City Region Linda Boyle (University of Iowa), Human Factors Research in Highway Safety Stuart Anderson (Iowa DOT), State DOT Revenue Shortfalls and Strategies No class due to ISU Spring Break, Howard Preston (CH2M Hill), State Strategic Highway Safety Plans: Lessons Learned Apr. 4 Apr. 11 Apr. 18 Apr. 25 May 2 Eric Wright (Iowa DOT), How Land Developers Look at Transportation Systems and Access Dan McGehee (University of Iowa), Teen Driving Safety Research Using Video Edwards/May (Springfield, MO MPO) and Johnson (UMC), Springfield, Missouri Activity Center Based-Planning and Cost Calculator Tom Welch (Iowa DOT), Highway Safety Topics TBD Doug Harwood (Midwest Research Institute), US and International Road Risk Assessment P Center for Transportation Research and Education Iowa State University Research Park 2711 S. Loop Drive, Suite 4700 Ames, IA RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED