Kiel Ova Selected for Eno Leadership Development Conference

Things have been exciting for Kiel Ova since December. He began full-time as a transportation research engineer and associate research fellow at the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute. He defended his thesis: Evaluation of Transit Signal Priority Strategies for Small-Medium Cities.

He has now been selected to attend the Eno Transportation Foundation leadership development conference in Washington, D.C., as an Eno Fellow. He was chosen as one of only 20 top students in the country.

Ova calls this "a great opportunity to learn exactly how things happen in Washington and how those decisions eventually affect our lives." This area of transportation is one he has a special interest in pursuing. His career plans include getting involved in the administrative aspects of transportation development.

He lauds the civil engineering education he's received at North Dakota State University. "This selection shows how strong our transportation curriculum is and the reputation of the UGPTI," he says. Others attending the five-day conference are from schools in California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Texas, Indiana, Arkansas, Washington, Virginia, and Ova's home state, Montana.

Dr. Ayman Smadi, Ova's mentor and director of the Advanced Traffic Analysis Center, called Ova a student who "demonstrated exceptional academic achievement and professional maturity. He shows a great understanding of the complexity and diversity of transportation issues and an outstanding level of professionalism." Ova worked with Smadi for two years as an undergraduate and two years as a graduate student.

In that ATAC work, Ova's thesis on transit signal priority grew a spinoff in St. Cloud, Minn. St. Cloud implemented some of the concepts studied in his thesis. With the St. Cloud system already installed, he has the opportunity to test the accuracy of the model used in his thesis to a real world application.

Two other NDSU students were previously chosen for the Eno Leadership Development Conference. Brenda Lantz, who is director of the Motor Carrier Field Systems Program, and Joel Honeyman, who is with Bobcat/Ingersoll-Rand.

The Eno Transportation Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving all modes of transportation - ground, air and water. It was founded in 1921 by William Phelps Eno with the goal of improving traffic control and safety. Since then, the Foundations' activities have evolved in response to changes in transportation and society.