|
VTRC Joins U.Va. To Create A Graduate Pavements Program
 |
| A VTRC researcher lectures as part of new U.Va. graduate pavements program. |
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A new graduate-level program in transportation pavements will be listed in the University of Virginia’s course catalog for the 2005 fall semester.
The Center for Transportation Studies (CTS) in the civil engineering department at the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS), will offer this new masters program to complement its existing curriculum in transportation engineering and management.
Ph.D.-level scientists from the Virginia Transportation Research Center (VTRC), a joint partnership between U.Va. and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) established in 1948, will teach and advise students in this new program. VTRC researchers for years have advised U.Va.’s transportation graduate students on various projects, so this new teaching program will take that affiliation to a new level of cooperation
The transportation pavements curriculum will increase CTS’s course offerings and provide students with the chance to work on cutting-edge research with VTRC’s nationally-known scientists. VTRC’s structures, pavements & asset management team will provide most of the course instructors, some of whom already teach transportation courses at the University.
“With the addition of this transportation pavements program, the Center for Transportation Studies will provide a comprehensive graduate-level transportation engineering program,” said Lester A. Hoel, CTS Director and L.A. Lacy Distinguished Professor of Engineering. “The program also will ensure that the University of Virginia remains at the forefront in surface transportation education.”
Gary R. Allen, Ph.D., VTRC Director and VDOT’s Chief of Technology, Research & Innovation, said, “Our long association with UVA will accelerate the transportation pavements graduate program and will equip graduates with the knowledge needed to make immediate contributions to the transportation industry in the Commonwealth of Virginia and nationwide.”
As part of the program startup, the initial course will be pavement design. Other courses to follow will include: material characterization, geotechnical engineering, geometric design and pavement management systems. VTRC researchers who will serve as faculty for the program include Brian Diefenderfer, Shabbir Hossain, Khaled Galal, Michael Brown and David Mokarem.
The VTRC Advisory Board, which includes the SEAS Dean, Chair of the Civil Engineering Department, and VDOT's Commissioner, formally approved the new graduate program at its biannual meeting in February 2005.
|