CUTR STC Fellows Attend Intermodal Expo

In 1995 CUTR joined the consortium of 12 southeastern universities that comprise the Southeastern Transportation Center (STC). The center combines research and education elements to address existing and emerging transportation safety issues and represents the eight Region IV states; however, the work program is directed at issues of regional and national significance.

One of the first benefits of this affiliation has been the opportunity for CUTR to provide educational support to a group of graduate students pursuing transportation-focused educational programs. Eight graduate students were selected as STC fellows, each of whom is pursuing a graduate degree in Civil Engineering or is a member of the USF Graduate Interdisciplinary Transportation Program. All have been appointed as graduate research assistants and are currently involved in a variety of research projects under way at CUTR, ranging from evaluating transit performance to investigating the factors impacting roadway safety and capacity.

Six of the CUTR STC fellows recently were able to meet with students and faculty from the other STC universities at the Intermodal Expo and STC Student Annual Meeting in Atlanta. In addition to attending the Expo, they had an opportunity to hear senior modal administration representatives speak, attend presentations on Olympic transportation planning, tour the Delta Airlines maintenance facilities, observe the Atlanta Traffic Management Center operations, ride the MARTA rail system, and discuss transportation with fellow students.

CUTR s STC Fellows include Sujeeva Weerasuriya (PhD CE 1997), Tonya Hepburn MPA 1997), Weimin Huang (MSCE 1996), Hari Madur (MSCE 1997), Jesus Gomez (MSCE 1997), Sai Mellena (MSCE 1997), Ben Walker (MSCE 1997), and Srikant Rachakonda (MSCE 1997).

CUTR looks forward to continued involvement in the STC program and has been actively participating in the identification of priority topics for the next series of research initiatives. The STC program helps train the next generation of highly educated transportation professionals necessary to address increasingly complex transportation problems while ensuring that new research is focusing on critical transportation safety issues.

For further information on the STC program, contact CUTR s Deputy Director for Institutes Steve Polzin, polzin@cutr.usf.edu.