The Pennsylvania State University
University of Maryland
University of Virginia
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
West Virginia University
News Highlights
MAUTC Re-authorized for 2007-2009
Penn StateThe Pennsylvania Transportation Institute at Penn State has been awarded a three-year grant from the U. S. Department of Transportation to continue leading the Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center (MAUTC).
MAUTC has been the federally designated University Transportation Center for Region 3 since its inception in 1988. Region 3 encompasses Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. MAUTC resides at the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, a multidisciplinary research unit within Penn State's College of Engineering. The $6.2 million grant carries the Center's work forward into 2010.
The consortium members include:University of Virginia
Virginia Polytechnic and State University
University of Maryland
University of West Virginia
In addition, the consortium also includes strategic partnerships with other
institutions in the region, including Morgan State University, University of
Delaware and University of Pennsylvania, and collaborations with state
departments of transportation.
Work Force Development Key to New MAUTC/PennDOT Partnership
University Park-The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and Penn State have entered into a new five-year partnership. PennDOT has committed $500,000 per year to fund research, education and technology transfer projects that will address pressing transportation issues facing the Commonwealth. Penn State and the Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center (MAUTC) based at the University will provide cost sharing to leverage PennDOT's investment. Dr. John M. Mason serves as the Director of MAUTC and is currently the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, Research and Outreach in the College of Engineering.Dr. Mason notes that one of the central goals of the partnership is to develop tomorrow's professional transportation work force. This initiative will provide opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to enhance their education outside the classroom by working directly with faculty and professionals within PennDOT while gaining practical experience in their respective fields of study.
Eight projects have been selected for 2005-06. These projects will draw on the broad spectrum of faculty expertise residing within The Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, several departments within the College of Engineering, and also Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. The selected projects address areas of current research needs identified by PennDOT and the faculty at Penn State.
Projects identified for the first year include initiatives that will directly benefit vehicle drivers and others focused on upgrading the physical transportation infrastructure. These efforts include the development of an advanced road safety and weather warning system, which will alert drivers to weather-related hazardous driving conditions, and research that will improve the design and service life of curved and skewed bridges.
2007 Outstanding Student of the Year
Mason Gemar , MAUTC's 2007 Outstanding Student of the Year, was
recognized at the Council of University Transportation Centers' (CUTC) annual
banquet for his outstanding accomplishments in academics and research.Mason Gemar earned his Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Penn State in May 2007. At the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute (PTI), Mason was the lead student on a PennDOT/MAUTC research project to evaluate the operational effects of wide edge lines applied to horizontal curves on two-lane rural highways. In addition, Mason was instrumental in estimating negative binomial regression models of crash occurrence and developing crash severity distributions at interchange locations in Minnesota on an NCHRP project.
In 2003, Mason graduated from Iowa State University with a B. S. in Civil Engineering. While an undergraduate student, he worked as a lab assistant at the Center for Transportation Research and Education (CTRE) where he conducted research for the Iowa Pavement Management Program (IPMP) and aided studies for the Iowa Traffic Safety Data Service (ITSDS).
Prior to graduate school, Mason was employed by HNTB, in Overland Park, Kansas. Mason is currently employed by HDR, in Austin, Texas.
streams.wpsx.psu.edu/Bridge_Safety03182.html
2007 Transportation Engineering and Safety Conference
Martin Pietrucha, chairTESC '07 was held December 5-7 at the Penn Stater Hotel Conference Center. Thirty-two sessions covered topics in design, operations, maintenance, and safety.
Bridge Safety Featured on WPSU's Pennsylvania Inside Out
Dan Linzell, associate professor, civil and environmental engineering, appeared on Pennsylvania Inside Out Linzell was the principal investigator on a research project co-sponsored by PennDOT, Prediction of Movement and Stresses in Curved and Skewed Bridges, in which Linzell is
West Virginia University Provides Outreach to Middle and High School Students
MAUTC researchers at West Virginia University first became involved in the Transportation and Civil Engineering Careers Program (TRAC) in 1999, but felt that they could further enhance outreach to middle school and high school students. The mission was not only to provide a classroom program that introduced students to civil engineering and transportation topics, but to serve as a resource for teachers in meeting their learning outcomes as prescribed by the State Department of Education. Dr. David Martinelli at WVU/MAUTC teamed with the state DOT Personnel office in developing the Transportation Career Awareness Program (TCAP).
The key to the program is its partnerships. In addition to the DOT/UTC partnership that exists in the TRAC program, TCAP involves the State Department of Education and the Younger Members Forum of its ASCE Section.
The Department of Education partnership is critical and is the essence behind the innovation of the program, namely to be curricular rather than extra-curricular. The Department of Education pre-approves learning activities for particular mandated outcomes. So the teacher, having to meet a particular learning outcome, can go to the website and find a transportation/civil engineering activity that has been pre-approved for meeting that outcome. It meets the teachers where they are and helps them get their job done.
TCAP is hoping to be a full K-12 program by developing similar activities for all grade levels. The first step has been the logo design competition. Young students were given a presentation about the TCAP program and transportation careers and then asked to design a logo for the program.