Education


2009 Summer Undergraduate Interns

 

 

Erin Kersh is pursuing a B.E. in Civil Engineering and a B.S. in mathematics at Vanderbilt University. For her internship, Erin worked with NEXTRANS Director Srinivas Peeta and Research Associate Lili Du (Purdue University) on research that aims to enhance the ability to manage network traffic flow under disasters. Erin’s role was to run a program that helps agencies identify the most optimal links in the network for upgrade. After graduation, Erin plans to pursue a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering.

 

 

 Dan Brandesky is pursuing a B.S. in Electrical Engineering at The Ohio State University. For his internship, Dan worked with Professor Benjamin Coifman (OSU) on two projects. One aims to determine the feasibility of using existing freeway loop detectors to predict traffic congestion. The second is investigating a new method of collecting traffic survey data via detectors mounted on vehicles. Dan’s future goal is to work in the field of transportation designing systems for urban traffic flow management.

 

 Eunseok Choi holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (May 2009). For his internship, Eunseok worked with Professor Yanfeng Ouyang (UIUC) on research aimed at providing more accurate traffic data for multimodal freight transportation systems. Eunseok helped to determine the prime sensor locations that will maximize the number of truck detections at minimum cost. Eunseok’s future plans are to complete a Master’s Degree at UIUC and eventually work for a transportation consulting firm.


 

 Divya Kumar holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (May 2009). For her internship, Divya worked with NEXTRANS Director Srinivas Peeta and Graduate Researcher Amit Kumar to analyze the convergence properties of traffic assignment algorithms for planning purposes.This information will be used to estimate the link/route flows and travel times in a network. Divya plans to pursue a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering and eventually become a licensed Professional Engineer (PE).



Matt Toussaint is pursuing a B.S. in Civil Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. For his internship, Matt worked with Riley Edwards (UIUC) to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of railroad track inspection and maintenance. Matt’s role was to analyze historical derailment data to determine causes of derailment specific to turnouts (sections of track that divert trains from one track to another). After graduation, Matt hopes to secure a job in a railroad track maintenance department.



 

 

Kyle Bemis was competitively selected for a Discovery Park Undergraduate Research Internship (DURI). Co-sponsored by NEXTRANS, Kyle’s internship allowed him to work with Professor Dan DeLaurentis on a NEXTRANS project exploring on-demand air service (ODAS), which aims to enhance “doorstep-to-destination” mobility through the use of very light jets. Kyle’s role was to aid in developing statistical models of multimodal transportation networks. He plans to obtain a Master’s Degree in Statistics from Purdue and pursue a career in data analysis.

Read more about the NEXTRANS Undergraduate Internship Program