D-STOP Workforce Development Roundup
Here’s a small sampling of D-STOP’s workforce development activities.
D-STOP Students Recognized and Recruited
D-STOP selected MS student Rahul Patel (supervised by Dr. Stephen Boyles) as its 2017 Outstanding Student of the Year. MS student John Helsel (also supervised by Dr. Stephen Boyles) was awarded the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) 2017 Charley V. Wootan Memorial Award for his MS thesis entitled “Getting to Work on Time: A Proposed Time-Equitable Tolling Scheme.” Rahul and John were recognized at an annual awards banquet in January 2018 in Washington DC before the TRB Annual Meeting.
Rahul with Dr. Steve Boyles and fellow award-winner John Helsel
Rahul first became involved with D-STOP as an undergraduate, when he participated in our annual summer internship program. Jointly sponsored by two Tier 1 US Department of Transportation’s University Transportation Centers—D-STOP and the Center for Highway Pavement Preservation—this internship offers up to ten selected undergraduate students the opportunity to gain firsthand experience in conducting highway and transportation studies and actively participate in transportation research with graduate students under the supervision of transportation faculty members. Each intern participates in a research project related to D-STOP and all attend a weekly colloquium series designed to introduce them to different aspects of the transportation field. This series is open to the public as well; see the 2018 Summer Symposium schedule.
Girl Day at UT Austin: February 24, 2018
D-STOP graduate student members of the Institute of Transportation Engineers and Women’s Transportation Seminar student groups gave an interactive demonstration to learn how to manage traffic signals and keep traffic flowing safely during Girl Day. Participants tried to get all the traffic through an intersection accident free before time ran out. Girl Day at UT Austin is a free event for K-8 students (for both girls and boys) held at the Cockrell School of Engineering and Natural Sciences complexes at The University of Texas at Austin. Over 8,000 students participated in over 150 free-flowing hands-on activities and demonstrations hosted by volunteers, student organizations, corporate partners, and community organizations. Students got the chance to explore engineering, science, math, and technology at their own pace throughout the event.
Explore UT: March 3, 2018
Students provide demos at the 2018 Explore UT
At this year’s Explore UT event, D-STOP research Robert Heath and his WNCG graduate students gave hands-on demonstrations of how antenna beam patterns change as a car moves in a millimeter wave vehicular communication system and on navigation algorithms that use only on-board sensors to decide a trajectory and avoid obstacles during the flight of a UAV. CTR graduate students also gave demonstrations on intelligent transportation systems and their use in the future, depicting what and how a connected and autonomous vehicle “sees”. The Institute of Transportation Engineers and Women’s Transportation Seminar student groups also gave an interactive session for participants to learn how to manage traffic signals and keep traffic flowing safely. Held annually at UT Austin, Explore UT aims to inform students, parents, teachers, and community members from across the state about the importance of the public research institution and higher education in Texas. The day-long event invites Texans of all ages to experience robust research experiences, benefit from hands-on demonstrations and experiments, and participate in the richness of the university’s scholarship and knowledge.