Meet the 2016 UF Transportation Research Interns!

This year, three students from the University of Florida were accepted into the STRIDE Center’s Transportation Research Internship Program. Two of them will be working with UFTI-affiliated faculty, post-docs and graduate students on transportation-related research. The third student will be working at another university within the STRIDE consortium. In addition, a fourth student from Arizona State University who was admitted to the program will be joining UFTI-affiliated faculty in research as well. Check out more about these students below.

The Southeastern Transportation Research, Innovation, Development and Education (STRIDE) Center is the 2012 USDOT/OST-R grant-funded, regional (Southeastern) University Transportation Center (UTC) headquartered at the UFTI that conducts transportation-related research in the areas of safety, livable communities and economic competitiveness. Through collaboration with state DOTs and their representatives, as well as private agencies and professional organizations, STRIDE work towards improving the transportation system and collectively expand its outreach in the Southeast and the nation.

Each year, STRIDE funds the Transportation Research Internship Program (TRIP). The main goal of the program is to provide undergraduates an exciting opportunity to learn about transportation engineering and to participate in cutting-edge research projects along with STRIDE faculty and graduate students. Students can pursue their internship at any one of the eight universities within the STRIDE consortium (see map).

During this paid internship, students are paired up with a faculty adviser and work on active research projects.  The program ends in late July, and students are responsible for delivering a final report and giving final presentations related to project they worked on.

Daniel Royer, University of Florida

Bio: Daniel is originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  He is a junior pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Math.  Daniel Likes to sail and is in the Sailing Club at UF. He is also on the Gatorloop Team, which is designing and building a pod for the Space X Hyper Loop competition, and is also an automotive enthusiast.

Adviser: Sarah O’Brien, Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager, Institute for Transportation Research & Education (ITRE), North Carolina State University

Project(s):  Bicycle and Pedestrian Data Collection


Taehyun Kim, University of Florida

Bio: Taehyun was born in South Korea, but grew up in Jacksonville, Fla. He has lived in the U.S. for 10 years. He is currently attending UF as a computer science major with mathematics minor. He likes to code and regularly attends the UF Programming Team meetings. Taehyun says, “I’m excited for this upcoming internship and I hope I can learn as much as I can about transportation through various projects I’ll be working on.”

Adviser: Dr. Scott Washburn, Associate Professor, Civil Engineering, University of Florida

Project(s): The NCHRP 17-65, working on two-lane highway analysis and an FDOT project evaluating commercial truck parking detection technology

 


Matthew Elias, University of Florida 

Bio: Matthew is from Delray Beach, Fla. He is a 3rd year Mathematics and Industrial and Systems Engineering Dual Degree candidate at UF. He is the head of Mechanical Design for Generational Relief in Prosthetics (GRiP), designing and producing 3D printable prosthetics for children born with upper limb differences. Matthew also a member of the Gator Salsa Club and UF Orange & Blue Archery Club. Matthew says, “I am excited to start work on my life dream of Transportation Optimization.”

Adviser: Dr. Mehrdad Shahabi, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, UF Civil Engineering

Project(s): Exploratory Data Analysis of Taxi Trips


Alex Dixon, Arizona State University 



Bio: Alex is a native of Jacksonville, Fla. He is currently studying Landscape Architecture with a minor in Recreation Management at Arizona State University. Alex has worked for the City of Phoenix’s Street Transportation Department as a Planning Intern and has had the opportunity of helping his supervisor plan and facilitate a bike tour for the APA conference held in Phoenix in April 2016. Alex is scheduled to graduate this Fall and has applied to attend the University of Florida this spring where he will pursue a master’s degree in Transportation Planning.  His hobbies include growing plants, longboarding and bicycling.

Adviser: Dr. Ruth Steiner, Professor, Urban and Regional Planning, University of Florida

Project(s): Multimodal Transportation Systems

To see the full list of TRIP interns, please check out the STRIDE website.