New Staff at Transportation Institute

Jerilyn Swenson joined UGPTI's Advanced Traffic Analysis Center in July 2004 as an associate research fellow. She began work with ATAC in early 2002 as an undergraduate research assistant. Swenson's main responsibility is the design and maintenance of metropolitan transportation models.

Swenson updates network and socioeconomic information and generates traffic scenarios requested by clients. She performs model runs, analyzes the resulting data, and creates maps and data summaries for ATAC's clients. She has been involved with several long-range transportation planning projects and is currently working on various projects for the F-M Metropolitan Council of Governments and the NDDOT. Swenson received her bachelor's degree in civil engineering the Spring of 2003 and is pursuing a master's degree.

David Ripplinger joined the staff of the UGPTI's Small Urban and Rural Transportation Center in June.

Ripplinger previously worked with the institute as a research assistant while earning his B.S. degree in agricultural economics from NDSU. He earned his M.S. in economics from Iowa State University in Ames. While at Iowa State he collected and analyzed data on international meat trade and conducted research on intellectual property rights in agriculture.

Ripplinger also served as an agricultural fellow in Washington, D.C., researching and writing briefs, speeches and papers for Iowa Senator Charles Grassley. He also was a research assistant with the USDA's Economic Research Service.

Ripplinger, originally from Devils Lake, will use his expertise in computer modeling and statistics in a project to help North Dakota school districts develop more efficient school bus routes. He will also work on traffic demand models and other computer modeling applications for the Small Urban and Rural Transportation Center.

Jon Mielke joined the UGPTI in March at Bismarck State College where he is involved in transportation educational programs developed jointly with the UGPTI. He also conducts research on transportation and traffic issues in the state.

Mielke retired in 2004 after 23 years with the North Dakota Public Service Commission. He served as executive secretary of that group since 1994 and was also director of the licensing division overseeing licensing of elevators, grain buyers, hay buyers, auctioneers and auction clerks. The licensing division also enforces state regulations relating to railroads. Originally from Grafton, Mielke holds a bachelor's degree in business and a master's degree in public administration both from the University of North Dakota. Early in his career, he worked with the North Dakota Highway Department and the City of Minot dealing with transportation and traffic issues.

John MacGowan was named national program coordinator in March and will work with federal agencies to match their needs with expertise and experience at the Institute.

John MacGowan, of Swanton, Md., will work parttime in Washington, D.C., collaborating with the Federal Highway Adminis-tration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, other federal agencies, and private motor carrier trade associations.

MacGowan retired from federal service 2001 after more than 30 years of work in federal transportation agencies. He served as director of the Office of Research and Development and director of Office and Bus and Truck Standards and Operations for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Before that he was director of the Office of Operations Technology Services for the Federal Highway Administration.

Tom Jirik was hired as communication coordinator in February. He has been at NDSU for eight years as communications specialist with the agriculture communication department. He holds a bachelor's degree in mass communication and agricultural economics from NDSU. Before coming to NDSU he worked for nearly nine years in agricultural communication at Iowa State University. He began his communications career as a newspaper reporter in Iowa.

He will work with administration and staff to enhance the institute's marketing and communication efforts.

Patrick Johnson has joined the Transportation Safety Systems Center. As information technology project manager, Johnson will manage software applications and support functions for the center. He has been in the information technology field since 1981 and has been an information technology project manager since 1991. He has worked extensively with client/server and Web-based software applications.

Brad Wood is a new senior software engineer with the Transportation Safety Systems Center. He will be an integral part of the center's software development team and is already involved with several new development projects. Wood has extensive experience with software engineering, Web services and relational databases.