MPC
Research Projects (2005-06)

Project Title

North Front Range Transportation Research Internships

University

Colorado State University

Project Investigator

Dr. Richard Gutkowski
Colorado State University
(970)491-8291
gutkowsk@engr.colostate.edu

External Project Contact

Vicky McLane
NFRT & AQPC
(970)224-6059
vmclane@nfrmpo.org

Project Objective

The objective of the project is to provide cooperation and student research assistance in the conduct of priority transportation and transportation research studies conducted by local and county transportation agencies and industry in northern Colorado.

Project Abstract

Colorado State University (CSU) and the North Front Range Transportation & Air Quality Planning Council (NFRT & AQPC) (hereafter "the Council") determine externally funded research and related projects that will benefit from the participation of student research interns from CSU. The Council is the Metropolitan Planning Organization for an area comprised of Ft. Collins, Loveland and Greeley in Colorado and the municipalities around and between these communities. An annual process of solicitation, interviews and placement of interested, qualified student interns into active research activities in these projects and reporting of the progress and outcomes of the projects is involved.

The Council and local and county government transportation agencies conduct an extensive project identification and prioritizing process consistent with the statewide planning process conducted via the Colorado Department of Transportation. This MPC project utilizes the outcomes of this regional planning and subsequent state, county and locally funded projects as the base for establishing student intern needs and matching the student to them, based on interests and qualifications. The involved transportation agencies and industry firms contracted by the agencies provide dollar resources for the paid internships and pertinent support budget related to the interns' duties.

Task Descriptions

The internship placement is conducted each semester. A project identification meeting of the CSU program director and the Council contact member serves to determine potential public agency and industry funded projects with intern needs. An advertising (including a website, flyers, class announcements, etc.), application and interview process is conducted to identify 2-3 intern applicants per potential project for consideration by the public agencies, local entities and industry parties. Offers of internships are made based on employers' choices until the positions are filled.

An organizational information and planning meeting with all interns and their employers involved in the conduct of the research projects. This serves to provide common information on the conduct, reporting and tracking requirements for each internship. The individual internships take place and, at the conclusion, each intern prepares a summary report on his/her completed internship. The website is updated to reflect the recently completed internship and the next semster's application and interview schedule.

Milestones, Dates

Starting Date: July 1, 2005
Hiring of interns: Start of each semester or summer
Completion of internships: End of each semester or summer
Summary reports: End of each semester or summer
Update website: End of each semester or summer
Ending Date: June 30, 2006

Yearly and Total Budget

$17,436

Student Involvement

This project is specifically established for student participating in actual transportation projects of public agencies and industry. Paid agency and industry internships are provided in the area of transportation planning, transportation management and applied transportation engineering. It is projected that about 5-10 interns will be placed this year.

Relationship to Other Research Projects

The objective of the internships program is to provide professional experience external to the academic setting. Typically, the interns work on external projects at the location of the hiring agency or firm. These are normally projects the employer is conducting as part of their own missions or engineering services contracts. Occasionally, an MPC research project is joint or cooperative with an external agency or municipality and the intern is located at that external site. Every effort is given to place interns externally, and is usually accomplished. Thereafter, consideration is given to placing qualified remaining applicants on an active MPC project or within the other MPC activities at CSU, such as TLN.

Technology Transfer Activities

The major end users of the research are local, state and federal planning agencies, local municipalities and counties, and private firms. Planning agencies and local entities utilize the results of the studies to guide their future investments in the North Front Range transportation needs in Colorado. Private firms produce products and outcomes of their contracted projects and thus directly disseminate findings and results. The regional and statewide transportation planning processes have extensive reporting of results in open public meetings, conferences, workshops, website and other professional forums.

Potential Benefits of the Project

Many of the projects the student interns are engaged in are derived directly as priority projects identified in the North Front Range regional and the statewide planning processes in Colorado. Thus, they meet the most compelling research needs identified by the providers and users of transportation services in Colorado. As related to the interns themselves, each gains a challenging, hands-on experience in transportation research and planning. This is invaluable to the career paths and fosters strong potential for them to elect to continue such careers and help provide solutions to the transportation needs of the nation. A number of past interns were subsequently either employed by the employers involved in their internship or via contacts made through the internship, and that incentive and potential is always present.

TRB Keywords

Transportation, interns, research students