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New Students – University of Utah
Dilya Yusufzyanova is from Yoshkar-Ola City, Mari El Republic-Russia, and is a masters student at the University of Utah. She earned a B.S. degree in transportation from Mari State Technical University, Russia. During her undergraduate year, Dilya earned various awards for her scholastic excellence. She is a research assistant for the Utah Traffic Lab and is researching Utah's 38 miles of express lanes.
Zuduo Zheng is a Ph.D. student at the University of Utah. He is currently studying traffic engineering and is a research assistant for the Utah Traffic Lab. He earned a B.S. degree in coastal and port engineering from Hohai University, China. While attending Hohai University, Zuduo received an award recognizing him as an Outstanding College Student of the People's Republic of China. He received his M.S. degree in traffic engineering from Jilin University, China. As a Research Assistant, he is working on the calibration and validation of the VISSIM model of I-15.
University of Wyoming
Christopher Vokurka is investigating the relationship between road reconstruction and geometric changes to highways to the impacts that they have on the number of animal-vehicle collisions. He will graduate with his M.S. in civil engineering in December 2006. Chris earned his B.S. in civil engineering in 2003 from Colorado State University and worked for a geotechnical consultant prior to attending the University of Wyoming. He is also secretary of the UW chapter of ITE.
Zhong Cheng is working on his M.S. degree in civil engineering. He received a B.S. degree in computer science and technology from Nanjing University of Technology in China in 2004. In addition, from 1997 to 2000, Cheng attended a high school affiliated with the Xinjiang Agriculture University in Urumqi, China. Cheng has considerable experience with computers as a troubleshooter, website designer, customer service engineer and network administrator. He is working on a new MPC project with the Wyoming DOT to evaluate transportation safety in the state.
Lekshmi Sasidharan is a graduate student in the Department of Civil Engineering. She is a Ph.D. scholar focusing on transportation engineering. Currently, she is developing safety techniques and methodologies to identify and rank crash risk locations in Wyoming. The project also aims at devising cost effective safety improvement methods for rural roads. Lekshmi was born and raised in Kerala, India. She obtained a B.Tech. degree in civil engineering from TKMCE, Kerala. She earned her M.Tech. degree from National Institute of Technology Calicut in traffic and transportation planning.
North Dakota State University
Jamie Paurus, of Frazee, MN, is working on his Ph.D. in transportation and logistics at NDSU. In addition, Paurus is researching supply chain management. He earned his B.S. in university studies in 2003 and his Master of Business Administration in 2005. Both degrees were from NDSU. Paurus is also an instructor at Valley City State, Valley City, ND in the Business and Information Technology Division. He plans to continue in that position after earning his Ph.D.
Chris Enyinda, of Huntsville, AL, is not typical of students in the transportation and logistics program. He is finishing his second Ph.D. and is a faculty member at Alabama A&M University.
Enyinda learned about NDSU's program via the Internet while doing some research and was struck by the interdisciplinary nature of the program. He says that's a key component of real-world logistics and supply chain management and one that's lacking in some academic programs. "To compete in the private sector, firms must draw on different disciplines and diverse entities for transportation and logistics," he noted. He was also impressed by the integration of GIS and GPS technology and other technology into the program.
He initially contemplated coming to NDSU on sabbatical to do some research and study (not as part of a degree program), but decided that a Ph.D in transportation and logistics would better suit his needs. He plans to return to Alabama A&M to continue research and publishing in supply chain management and risk and possibly establish an academic center focused on that topic.
Enyinda received his M.S. in economics with an option in management and an M.B.A. in management from Alabama A&M University, Huntsville. He then went on to receive his first Ph.D. in applied/ag economics with an option in logistics/transportation in 1995 from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Enyinda's research focuses on modeling economic risk management in global supply chain logistics for the manufacturing industry. Upon completing the Ph.D. program, Enyinda will return to teaching, research/publishing, and consulting in the area of transportation, logistics and supply chain management for Alabama A&M University. He will return there at the end of his sabbatical and upon completing the Ph.D. program in transportation and logistics with a primary concentration in logistics and supply chain management and a secondary concentration in economics and regulations at NDSU.
