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CTS Awards

Matthew J. Huber Award for Excellence in Transportation Research and Education

Purpose

The Matthew J. Huber Award for Excellence in Transportation Research and Education is given to University of Minnesota graduate students demonstrating outstanding academic achievement in engineering, science, and technology fields. Up to two students are honored each year (one master’s and one doctoral candidate). The award is named in honor of the late Professor Emeritus Matthew J. Huber in recognition of his long and valuable contribution to the teaching and study of transportation.

2009 Recipients

Shan Hu and Evan Ribnick

Two students received awards this year. Shan Hu is a master’s candidate in engineering management (mechanical engineering) at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Her work focuses on nonintrusive detection of driver drowsiness through a sensing system that monitors the heart rate of vehicle drivers. This project is currently one of four national finalists in the 3rd Collegiate Student Safety Technology Design Competition. Her advisor, Xun Yu, joked that the “problem” with Hu, his first graduate student, is that she raised his expectations: “I don’t know if I can have any other so good.” Hu said she is glad her research contributes to the field of transportation.

Evan Ribnick is a doctoral candidate in electrical engineering at the Twin Cities campus. His research, centered around computer vision and image processing, has focused extensively on transportationrelated applications, including a specific project sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security to develop an automatic surveillance system to protect busy transportation hubs. His advisor, Nikolaos Papanikolopoulos, said Ribnick is a “dream student” who has been published in some of the best academic journals. “He is a true scholar and a very professional individual,” he added. Ribnick said that as a researcher, he wants to develop technology that’s useful and applicable in the real world. “This award indicates that we’re headed in the right direction,” he said.

Past Recipients