MTC Asset Newsletter Winter 2006

Students at TRB 2006

The MTC helps students fund their travel and attendance at the Transportation Research Board’s Annual Meeting. Following are a few Iowa State University students’ reactions to the experience.

Eric Fitzsimmons

This trip has been the highlight of my graduate school experience at Iowa State. I now have a better understanding of what the transportation side of civil engineering deals with and what possibilities are out there for my future.

One of my favorite sessions was about airport terminals of the future. The topic was whether we should design airports to be great gathering places or design an airport around low cost carriers. The panelists literally disagreed with each other.

Neil Burke

I attended a session on the application of public-private partnerships in highway financing. Having written a course paper on this topic, I thought I was fairly well versed on it. I found out that there are many additional variables to consider, and from different viewpoints than those I included. 

Victor Lund

Viewing TRB presentations on well thought out research projects further deepened my interest in transportation research. However, it was also educational to view some presentations on research projects that were not well thought out. The presentations that I thoroughly enjoyed include the “Airport Terminal of the Future” and Iowa State University’s Dr. Charles Jahren’s presentation “Deciding When to Pave an Aggregate Road.” Not only did the presentations I attended deepen my interest in research, but they also strengthened my desire to produce professional work in everything I do.

Jon Wiegand

The most interesting part of the conference was discovering what makes a quality technical paper and presentation. After listening to various question and answer sessions, along with discussion outside of the room, there are key factors that are required to improve the research’s credibility. The conversation of participants outside of the presentations was also interesting, being able to discuss research that is not published yet and hearing what is currently being done at other locations.

Dan Ormand

One of the topics I learned more about at TRB was perceptual countermeasures to reduce speeds.  Decreasing the lane width, pavement width, or lateral clearance are perceptual countermeasures I have been aware of.  The use of pavement markings such as transverse bars and peripheral transverse lines to reduce speeds is an idea I found to be very interesting.

Eric R. Petersen

It was a good opportunity to network with professionals and, with the help of the employment opportunities room, I was able to set up interviews with potential employers. 

Amanda Parke

On Sunday night three of us attended the Women in Transportation reception. There I met with a member of a national consulting firm who offered me an internship. I hope to hear from them soon.