The UFTI congratulates Don Watson on being selected as the Southeastern Transportation Research, Innovation, Development & Education (STRIDE) Center’s 2016 Student of the Year. The award was presented to Watson on January 7,  2017, at the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) Awards Banquet during the 96th Meeting of the Transportation Research board in Washington, D.C.

On winning the award, Watson said, “I am honored to receive this award. It is the culmination of all the hard work that I’ve invested over the past five years at UF. I’ve grown tremendously in this time, not only as a scholar, but also as a friend and a husband. Without the support of those closest to me, it would have been much more difficult to attain the goals I set for myself. My thanks goes out to them as well as the selection committee, who found me deserving of this great distinction.”

Watson is a doctoral student in the UFTI’s transportation engineering program working under the direction of Dr. Scott Washburn.

The Student of the Year award recipients are selected based on traits such as technical merit and research, academic performance, professionalism, and leadership.

The STRIDE Center is the UFTI’s grant-funded U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) regional (Southeast) University Transportation Center (UTC) for 2012 and 2016. STRIDE is a consortium which includes Auburn University, The Citadel, Florida International University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Jackson State University, North Carolina State University, Tennessee Tech University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.