The National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) is proud to introduce our four Summer 2020 Dissertation Fellows, together awarded $60,000 in total funding. Read about their projects below, or learn how to apply for funding through the NITC Dissertation Fellowship Grant.
Robert Hibberd is a Ph.D. student and Graduate Research Assistant in the University of Arizona's College of Architecture, Planning & Landscape Architecture. His research emphasis is on urban and transportation planning, demographics, Smart Growth and New Urbanism, housing affordability issues, and sustainable development. He has worked on multiple NITC projects including LRT/BRT/SCT/CRT Development Outcomes FINAL PHASE and Updating and Expanding LRT/BRT/SCT/CRT Data and Analysis with his advisor, Dr. Arthur C. Nelson. He is a 2020 NITC dissertation fellow.
LinkedIn | Twitter | NITC Researcher Profile
Tell us about yourself?
Robert E. Hibberd grew up in Syracuse, Utah, north of Salt Lake City. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Utah, and a Master’s degree in Historical Resources Management,...
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I am entering my second year in the Master of City and Metropolitan Planning program at the University of Utah. I’m originally from Ashville, Ohio and I received my B.S. in civil engineering from Ohio Northern University in 2019. Shortly after, I picked up from Ohio and moved to Salt Lake City where I’ve been enjoying hiking around in the Wasatch Mountains and exploring a new city outside of my studies.
What (or who) has influenced your career path in transportation?
Ever since I was a little kid, I could be found studying, or drawing maps. The transportation system as a whole has always been a curiosity of mine and ultimately...
Read moreMd Mintu Miah is a Ph.D. student and research assistant in transportation engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington. He is interested in data mining and machine learning in the field of transportation engineering. He obtained his MS in transportation engineering from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and BS in civil engineering from Bangladesh.
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Md Mintu Miah was born in 1989 in a small village of Bangladesh. He obtained his Bachelor Degree on Civil Engineering from Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET), Bangladesh in 2012. In the year 2014, he joined as a full-time lecturer in the same department and worked until 2017. Later, he obtained his Master's degree in Transportation Engineering from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA (2018). Currently, he is working as a Ph.D. student and Graduate Research Assistant of Transportation Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington, USA under the supervision of Professor Stephen P. Mattingly.
What (or who) has influenced your career path in transportation?
The destitute transportation system of my own country and ample research opportunity in the U.S. have jointly influenced me to study in the field of Transportation Engineering. Initially, I was encouraged by my family, colleagues; later, this dream came...
Read moreFinley Heeb and Maddy Reznick are both undergraduate students in the School of Planning, Public Policy and Management (PPPM) at the University of Oregon. They are both active in the UO's transportation student group, LiveMove, and have worked together as LiveMove's speaker series coordinators for the past two years. Finley was recently featured in a Student Spotlight story in UO news, recounting what they gained from their participation in the summer 2019 Sustainable Bicycle Transportation in Europe study abroad program with faculty Marc Schlossberg and Rebecca Lewis. Maddy was an intern in 2019 at the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability, working with a team of University students to collect and present case study research supporting implementation of a TDM Ordinance in Los Angeles County to the Chief Sustainability Office of LA County.
Finley's LinkedIn | Maddy's LinkedIn
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Finley: I am in my third year of the Planning, Public Policy, and Management program at the University of Oregon. Learning about cities, transportation, and communities has influenced every aspect of how I interact with where I live. Now, I...
Read moreGabby Abou-Zeid is a first-year civil engineering graduate student, 2019 Eisenhower Fellow and recipient of the 2019 IBPI Rex Burkholder and Lydia Rich Scholarship. She is pursuing her M.S. at Portland State University and working with Dr. Kelly Clifton's SUPER (Sustainable Urban Planning & Engineering Research) Lab. She received her BS in sustainable built environments from the University of Arizona in 2019, and plans on pursuing a PhD in a transportation-related field after her master's program. Prior to coming to PSU, she conducted research with Dr. Clifton through the Transportation Undergraduate Reearch Fellow (TURF) program*. Gabby will present her work on the demand for freight at multifamily apartment buildings on February 14 in a Friday Transportation Seminar at Portland State.
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Read moreEach year, the Portland Chapter of WTS bestows scholarships to assist exceptional women in their educational pursuits in the field of transportation. The scholarships are competitive and based on the applicant’s specific goals, academic achievements, and transportation related activities. Four NITC students were awarded WTS Portland scholarships for the 2019/2020 academic year:
Briana Orr, Portland State University
Briana Orr is a student in the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program at Portland State University. In addition, Briana is a Capital Project Planner at the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT). As a part of the Central City in Motion team, Briana advances PBOT's effort to implement pedestrian crossings, transit lanes, and bikeways in the city’s core. Prior to PBOT, Briana worked in Seattle as Cascade Bicycle Club’s Communication Manager, and secured seed funding for bike share in Eugene as the University of Oregon’s first professional Bike Coordinator.
Corrie Parrish, University of Oregon
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Read moreThe Outstanding Student of the Year award is presented during the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) banquet at each annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board, where the U.S. Department of Transportation honors an outstanding graduate student from each UTC. Sam Jensen will be presented with the award for NITC at the CUTC award ceremony and banquet in January 2021. See past NITC Students of the Year.
2019 NITC Outstanding Student of the Year: Samuel Jensen, University of Arizona
Samuel Jensen is a planning masters student at the University of Arizona. He has been selected as the 2019 NITC Student of the Year, and will be presented with the award at the Council of University Transportation Centers banquet at the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board in January 2020. He will present research on "An Inventory of Bus Stop Amenities Guidelines at U.S. Transit Agencies" at TRB, in the Bus Transit Research and Practices poster session. Samuel's interest in transportation developed through his work as an advocate for transit justice. He also serves as the president of Graduate Planning Society, UA's planning student...
Read moreSamuel Jensen is a planning masters student at the University of Arizona. He has been selected as the 2019 NITC Student of the Year, and will be presented with the award at the Council of University Transportation Centers banquet at the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board in January 2020. He will present research on "An Inventory of Bus Stop Amenities Guidelines at U.S. Transit Agencies" at TRB, in the Bus Transit Research and Practices poster session. Samuel's interest in transportation developed through his work as an advocate for transit justice. He also serves as the president of Graduate Planning Society, UA's planning student group, and as vice-chair of the city of Tucson's Pedestrian Advisory Committee.
Tell us about yourself?
I'm a somewhat non traditional masters student with a background in transportation and social justice/community organizing. I'm currently studying at the University of Arizona where I'm assisting with separate research projects in the areas of bus transit and walkability. I also serve as the president of our planning student organization, Graduate Planning Society, and vice-chair of the city of Tucson's...
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I’m a third-generation college student from rural Oregon who has always had a passion for solving complicated problems and wading through numbers. My early days were spent with Camp Fire USA exploring local wilderness areas and teaching the younger kids about how to survive. As I grew older, my hobbies began to shift towards the virtual world. Video games became a big part of my life around middle school, with them becoming the dominant hobby during high school. As school became more intensive, video games had to take a back seat, becoming a weekend hobby. During school, I devoted time to helping my classmates and anyone else in the degree who needed it. I never went so far as to give the other students answers, but I would explain terms and equations and do my best to guide them towards the right process.
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