Main Content

Student Activities (continued)

MPC Sponsors Railroad Awareness Week Activities at NDSU

During the week of Nov. 6-10, the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute and the Department of Civil Engineering at NDSU observed "Railroad Week" to raise awareness of the importance of railroad transportation in the United States and draw attention to potential careers in the railroad industry. Events during the week were sponsored by MPC.

"With the continued steady growth of the railroad systems through increased global trade and movement of goods and freight from the central region to the ports, we are opening new doors for our civil engineering and transportation students by making them aware of the many benefits of this industry," notes Dinesh Katti, chair of the Department of Civil Engineering.

"The railroad industry is facing a mass retirement of management personnel and is starving for engineering and management personnel to fill these voids. Awareness weeks such as this will hopefully educate students and make them aware of the great opportunities available in the railroad industry."

The week-long event also drew attention to efforts at NDSU to increase its focus on railroad engineering. In partnership with the Association of American Railroads and a number of Class I and regional railroads, NDSU is boosting railroad-focused scholarship and internship programs and adding railroad-related material to course content and research programs.

Craig Rocky, vice president of policy and economics with the Association of American Railroads, emphasized the need for such an event.

"One of the commonly misunderstood aspects of the railroad industry is its significance to the economy," he said. Rocky notes that railroads account for 42 percent of all ton-miles of goods shipped in the United States. "The industry has also thrown off huge social benefits," he says, listing congestion mitigation, pollution reduction, transportation safety and fuel efficiency.

During Railroad Week at NDSU, Brian Lindamood of Alaska Railroad Corp. discussed challenges of expanding and operating a railroad in Alaska.

Rocky notes that all modes of freight transportation in the United States are reaching capacity. "Historically, railroads have been looked to as a safety valve for capacity concerns, particularly in a growing economy," he says. "Railroads are in a position unlike anything they've faced in the past. In certain places and in certain corridors, capacity is being reached. In the past there's been excess capacity everywhere."

The railroad industry reinvests 40 percent of its revenues into maintaining its assets. "We're seeing increasing increments of that investment being directed toward expansion," Rocky notes.

That presents important opportunities for new graduates. "As railroads devote greater and greater amounts to expansion, they're also paying great attention to engineering, operations and strategic planning. Those are key elements for our industry to expand and reach a level that is optimal."

"All railroads are actively involved in programs to build more capacity," Rocky says. They are looking at new technology, recruiting and training programs, and new operating plans and joint efforts among railroads."

During the week, railroad professionals addressed civil engineering classes and students in the Masters of Military Logistics program. Brian Lindamood of Alaska Railroad Corp. presented technical facts on railroad engineering and railroad transportation to support military logistics, as well as the uniqueness of the Alaska Railroad. "Railroads have inherent advantages to most other modes of transportation when measured in economic terms of volume and as those other means of transportation struggle with capacity and operational costs, railroads will continue to reap the growth benefits of being a viable alternative," he said. Lindamood received an M.S. in civil engineering from NDSU.

Dan Zink, Red River Valley and Western Railroad, presented information on regional railroad operations in the northern plains and issues related to short-line and regional railroads.

MPC Sponsors NDSU ITE Field Trip to Minneapolis

The North Dakota State University student chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) took a field trip to Minneapolis Nov. 17-18 thanks to MPC support.

Eight civil engineering students toured transportation-related facilities and job sites, such as the Roseville Traffic Maintenance Center, the Hiawatha Light Rail System and the "Unweave the Weave" project on the interchange of Interstate Highways 35E and 694. The group also attended a "Trans Talk" at the University of Minnesota featuring 2007 ITE International president-elect Earl Newman. They also attended the 2006 North Central ITE Annual Conference.

Students in the NDSU student chapter of ITE toured project sites in Minneapolis-St. Paul in November.

Roseville Traffic Maintenance Center

"Unweave the Weave" Project

First MPC Student in South Dakota Begins Work

Amanda Boushek, of Echo, MN, is working on her M.S. degree in civil engineering. She earned her B.S. degree in civil engineering from South Dakota State University (SDSU). In the summer of 2006, Amanda became the first SDSU graduate student to work on an MPC-sponsored research project. Her research work focuses on the development and evaluation of self-consolidating concrete mix designs for structural applications in highway box culverts. The project is co-sponsored by the South Dakota Department of Transportation.

New Faculty

Hesham Mahgoub joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at South Dakota State University (SDSU) as an assistant professor soon after SDSU became a partner in MPC. Dr. Mahgoub is a valuable addition to the department in the transportation area. His previous research work includes virtual commercial vehicle inspection stations, sustainable infrastructure development for rural communities, pavement materials and construction, infrared technology in pavement evaluation, and recycled materials properties. Before joining SDSU in August 2006, Dr. Mahgoub was a visiting professor at the University of Central Florida in Orlando from 2001 until 2006. Dr. Mahgoub has a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in civil engineering, all from the Cairo University, Egypt.

Jun Zhang joined the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at NDSU in October as an assistant professor. Her research interests include: lean manufacturing and logistics; production planning and inventory control; scheduling; simulation optimization; models and methodologies of stochastic optimization; health care engineering; facility design; supply chain management; artificial intelligence; machine learning and data mining; and computer integrated manufacturing. Zhang holds a B.S. and an M.S. in mechanical engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology, China, and a Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Purdue University. Before coming to NDSU, she was a research assistant for the School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue.