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New Era
Welcome to the inaugural issue of the Mountain-Plains Consortium's newsletter. The newsletter will feature project highlights, student activities, and outreach efforts. It will also introduce you to new faculty and keep you up to date on activities within the consortium.
The launch of this newsletter corresponds with the Mountain-Plains Consortium's successful re-competition within the University Transportation Centers Program. This success is both an endorsement of our past success and a challenge to continue to build effective education, research and outreach programs.
Colorado State University, North Dakota State University, South Dakota State University, the University of Utah and the University of Wyoming collaborate in the consortium. The grant extends this collaborative program to 2009 and keeps us among the 60 University Transportation Centers operating across the United States to serve as a vital source of leaders prepared to meet the nation's need for safe, efficient and environmentally sound movement of people and goods.
Please contact us if you have any questions or would like additional information.
New Partner
We've added a new partner to the Mountain-Plains Consortium. South Dakota State University brings unique strengths to the partnership. SDSU is a land grant institution with about 11,000 students. It has a strong engineering program and has about 230 undergraduates and 35 graduate students enrolled in the civil engineering program. Its Geographic Information Science Center of Excellence is a joint collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey's National Center for Earth Resources and Observation and Sciences. SDSU is home to the South Dakota LTAP program and houses a state-of-the-art structural testing facility that can be used to test full-scale bridge sub-assemblages and components. Other facilities include a fluid mechanics laboratory, an asphalt laboratory and a geotechnical laboratory.
Dr. Nadim Wehbe, associate professor of civil engineering, is the MPC program director at SDSU. Wehbe teaches courses in structural theory and dynamics as well as in materials, timber structures and concrete construction. His research interests include reinforced and prestressed concrete structures, earthquake resistant bridges and the use of advanced composites in structural systems. He is coordinator of the J. Lohr Structures Laboratory. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Concrete Institute and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.
New Focus Areas
As program directors of the Mountain-Plains Consortium assessed its programs in preparation for re-competition, the partnership's focus areas were adjusted to better match with USDOT strategic goals as well as needs within the region.
Within the USDOT strategic objective of safety and security, the MPC will focus on high risk rural roads, rural transportation operations, effective safety management, human factors, low-cost safety improvements, work zones, heavy vehicle/commercial trucks, safety of unpaved roads, and hazardous materials.
Within the USDOT strategic objective of mobility and global connectivity, the MPC will focus on real-time traffic management, innovative demand management, freight management, finance and pricing, multimodal policy and investments, and promoting regional freight planning.
Within the USDOT infrastructure renewal and environmental stewardship strategic objective, MPC will focus on infrastructure longevity, infrastructure that minimizes environmental impacts, infrastructure safety, and economic impacts.
