AREMA Conference Student Program off to a WINNING start

The future of the world's railroads lies delicately in the hands of the next generation. It is imperative that they are educated and trained properly to ensure the continuation of safe and reliable rail transportation whether it be freight or passenger lines. The AREMA Conference at Railway Interchange 2015 understands the importance of the young talent coming into the industry and hosted a well-rounded student program October 4 in Minneapolis, Minn.

The two-day program was kicked off Sunday with a thrilling quiz bowl with teams representing many of the prestigious universities with civil engineering programs. One of the three teams representing the University of Illinois won the bowl with 29 total points. Penn State took second and third place.

Sunday’s program also included a short question corner session where students could have their resume reviewed and answer practice interview questions in preparation for the Meet the Next Generation event to be held Monday.

AREMA Committee 24 – Education & Training, hosted and judged a poster contest Sunday where nine undergraduate and graduate students presented their research in poster form, six graduate and three undergraduate.

The University of Illinois took first place under both categories. Predicting Derailments at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings by Samantha G. Chadwick, M. Rapik Saat and Christopher P. L. Barkan was awarded the blue ribbon for the graduate category and Operational Schedule Flexibility and Infrastructure Investment by Darkhan Mussanov and C. Tyler Dick took the blue ribbon for the undergraduate category.

The posters that were awarded first, second and an honorable mention for each category will be presented Monday morning during the AREMA General Session coffee break for viewing.

Monday’s Student Program will include the always well-attended Meet the Next Generation Panel Discussion and Networking Reception.