HighLight Heading
May 2005
Leaders honored at CTS annual meeting
Richard Braun, Catherine French, Robert Johns
Charleen Zimmer, Michael Sheehan, Robert Johns
Robert Johns, William Goins
Elliot Perovich, Robert Johns
Cheri Marti, Panos Michalopoulos, Wuping Xin
Cheri Marti, Nathaniel Bird, Osama Masoud
Richard P. Braun Distinguished Service Award: Former CTS director Richard Braun presented the award named in his honor to Catherine French, an "excellent teacher and role model for graduate students, especially for women in engineering," he said.What impresses him most, Braun added, are French's "vast" outreach efforts such as math summer camps and seminars for high school girls. French, a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and the lead investigator in the creation of the Multi-Axial Subassemblage Testing (MAST) Laboratory, said it was "very humbling" to see her name among the list of previous recipients.
Ray L. Lappegaard Distinguished Service Award: "Some people are natural-born mentors," said Charleen Zimmer of SRF Consulting. "Mike is one of them." Zimmer, a previous Lappegaard winner, presented this year's award to Michael Sheehan, county engineer in Olmsted County and a past president of both the Minnesota County Engineers Association and the Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers. Sheehan thanked Olmsted County and his staff for allowing him time to serve in various organizations. "I've been quite blessed with the opportunity to do all these things," he said.
William K. Smith Distinguished Service Award: In presenting the award, CTS director Robert Johns thanked recipient William Goins for his role with the CTS Logistics Task Force and the annual Freight and Logistics Symposium. Goins, worldwide account manager at Federal Express and an adjunct faculty member at the University's Carlson School of Management, recounted how Bill Smith helped him start his logistics career. "I hope through my efforts and teaching...I will have the impact on one person that Bill Smith had on me."
Distinguished Public Leadership Award: Johns presented the award to Elliot Perovich, currently a transportation analyst for Anoka County. As chair of the Regional Transit Board in the 1980s, Johns noted, Perovich initiated funding for transit research at CTS. Perovich said he's been "at the right place at the right time...to get involved in many different projects." He also added that it's a "very humbling experience to look around the room and see many others who deserve to be up here as much as or more than I do."
Matthew J. Huber Award for Excellence in Transportation Research and Education: Cheri Marti, CTS assistant director, presented the award to two students: Wuping Xin, a doctoral student advised by Panos Michalopoulos of the Department of Civil Engineering, and Nathaniel Bird, a master's candidate in computer science under Nikolaos Papanikolopoulos.
Praising Wuping's interdisciplinary research approach, Michalopoulos said he also agrees with Wuping's philosophy: "He addresses a problem that is real and important, investigates the nature of the problem, then finds practical solutions." For example, Mn/DOT will shortly deploy a ramp metering strategy for the metro freeway system that is based on Wuping's modeling and analysis. Wuping said he is very excited to contribute his work to the challenging field of intelligent transportation systems (ITS).
Filling in for Papanikolopoulos, researcher (and former Huber winner) Osama Masoud said Bird shows dedication and commitment in his work. "We rely on him to do a lot of research, and he does a very good job." Bird's research, which involves video techniques to detect loiterers such as drug dealers at bus stops, arose from an idea by Metro Transit but has broader applicability for transportation security. "All researchers like to think their research is the most interesting in the world," he joked. "It's nice to get an award to confirm that your research is interesting and important."
ITS Institute Student of the Year Award: Nathaniel Bird (see above) received the ITS Institute's 2004 Outstanding Student of the Year Award at the annual TRB meeting in Washington, D.C., in January, and was also recognized at the CTS annual meeting.