October 21, 2020
Orono, ME – Virtual
The Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center (TIDC) located at the University of Maine hosted their 1st Annual Student Recognition Night & 2nd Annual Student Poster Contest. During the Ceremony, students from TIDC’s member universities at the University of Maine, University of Connecticut, University of Massachusetts Lowell, University of Vermont, and Western New England University were recognized for their contributions to TIDC’s research. One of TIDC’s top priorities is to provide students with opportunities to explore real-world applications of the knowledge they are gaining as they attend their respective universities through hands-on research activities. The goal is to ensure students have applicable skills upon graduating to help them enter their professional roles in the transportation industry. TIDC has supported 115 students since its inception in June 2018 and 21 TIDC-supported students have graduated from their respective universities and entered the transportation industry.
In addition to recognizing the important contributions of TIDC’s students, awards were given to students who participated in the 2nd Annual Student Poster Contest. TIDC held awarded the top three research posters and presentation in two categories; Fan Favorites and Judges’ Awards.
For the Fan Favorite Awards, the public was invited to vote on the 18 submitted posters and presentation that were uploaded on the TIDC Website and shared through TIDC’s Social Media accounts. Voting was open for one week. The 2020 top three fan favorites were awarded as follows: third place went to Celso T. do Cabo from the University of Massachusetts Lowell for his poster Optical-Based Structural Health Monitoring of Truss Bridges; second place went to SK Belal Hossen from the University of Maine for his poster Soil State Dependency of Carbonation for Rapid Strength Improvement; and first place was awarded to Harsh Gandhi from the University of Massachusetts Lowell for his poster The Effect of HP Pile Orientation, Grade, and Soil Profile on Fixity Point of Pile in IABs.
For the Judges’ Awards, a team of 6 external judges from the transportation industry assessed the 18 posters based on three criteria; (1) scientific merit and broader impacts, (2) organization and visual quality of the poster, and (3) the quality of the video presentation. Awards were given to the top three student submissions as follows: third place went to Celso T. do Cabo from the University of Massachusetts Lowell for his poster Optical-Based Structural Health Monitoring of Truss Bridges; second place went to Braedon Kohler from the University of Maine for his poster Durability Evaluation of Carbon Fiber Composite Strands in Highway Bridges; and first place was awarded to Rachel Seigel from the University of Vermont for her poster Bridge-Stream Network Modeling for Bridge Risk Assessment and Flood Mitigation.
TIDC would like to congratulate all of the students for their hard-work and contributions to the research carried out at the six member universities throughout New England.
Submissions for the Student Poster Contest can be viewed at https://www.tidc-utc.org/events/2020-student-poster-contest/.