Associate's Degree Program Launched with Bismarck State College

A cooperative effort involving UGPTI, NDSU and Bismarck State College has resulted in the creation of a new associate's degree in transportation and supply chain management at Bismarck State College.

The program will help satisfy local and state demands for skilled transportation workers and give students fundamental skills for a career that offers good pay and potential for advancement. In addition, graduates from the program could pursue a related four-year degree at NDSU.

"Transportation and supply chain management are key factors in the competitiveness of firms today," says Jon Mielke, an instructor in the program and research associate with the UGPTI. "Growing firms and industries in our region are looking for individuals with skills in those areas to help them remain or become competitive in a world-wide marketplace."

In endorsing the program, North Dakota Governor John Hoeven said, "Transportation is critical to North Dakota's economic development efforts and the continued growth and diversification of our economy. As we capitalize on new opportunities for North Dakota industries and businesses, it is important that we have a trained workforce ready to meet our future transportation needs and challenges. I commend Bismarck State College, North Dakota State University and the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute for working together to provide this quality program."

Sang Moon is First Graduate from Ph.D. Program

Sang Young Moon is the first student to graduate from NDSU's Transportation and Logistics Ph.D. program. Moon earned his M.S. in agribusiness and applied economics from NDSU in 2002. He received his B.S. in agriculture economics from Korea University.

He began his Ph.D. program in September of 2002 with a concentration on transportation economics. His dissertation is "A Mathematical Model Applied to the U.S. Soybean Industry and Its Competitiveness." The research evaluated the impacts of alternative ocean and inland transportation systems on U.S. competitiveness of soybean exports and the world soybean trade. The results show that a free trade would positively affect the total soybean quantities traded in the world soybean market. The United States receives the most benefit under free trade mainly because export supply in the United States is much more elastic than those in Brazil and Argentina.

Moon hopes to find a position where he can continue research that will contribute to transportation policy decisions.

The Ph.D. program continues to grow; 21 students were in the program this spring and enrollment is at 23 for the fall semester.

Controller Interface Device Exhibited at Annual TRB Meeting

ATAC's Controller Interface Device (CID) was highlighted in January at the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board, nation's largest meeting of transportation professionals. The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is a division of the National Research Council and its annual meeting draws more than 9,500 transportation professionals from around the world.

ATAC research fellow Shawn Birst, presented information on the CID at the Traffic Signal Systems Simulation Subcommittee. Members of that subcommittee had been discussing ways to improve how traffic signal operations are modeled in traffic simulation, including using "hardware-in-the-loop" approaches. Birst presented information on ATAC's CID and illustrated how the CID may be used to accurately model complex traffic signal operations in conjunction with the VISSIM traffic simulation model.

In addition, Birst and associate research fellow Jason Baker also demonstrated the CID at the TRB's exhibit hall. The device was featured by the Federal Highway Administration in an exhibit also featuring its Adaptive Control Software (ASC) Lite initiative.

"This meeting represents the best of transportation research from around the world. Presenting and demonstrating the CID at TRB indicates how innovative and useful this approach is to traffic modelers," Birst says. The presentation and demonstrations were very well received by advanced simulation users and controller vendors who see value in the device for testing traffic controllers.

ATAC's CID was initially developed by students and is built using off-the-shelf technology. ATAC developed several software components to perfect the CID interface between simulation program and signal controller. The device is easy to set up and use, is relatively small, easy to upgrade and has Ethernet connectivity allowing users to run analysis using CID/controller combinations from virtually any location in the world. With this capability, ATAC is promoting a concept of a virtual traffic lab to allow collaboration among researcher and traffic engineers across the U.S.