Grant given to transportation center

By TAMMY DECKMAN
Collegian Staff Writer

A $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation could power some research programs for University students.

The Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center at Penn State's Pennsylvania Transportation Institute was awarded the grant last month, said James Miller, the center's director.

The grant, which will go into effect in July, is effective for three years. It renews the original grant awarded seven years ago.

The University's proposal, which competed against two area proposals, won due to its "quality, strength and likelihood to deliver," Miller said.

Penn State joined the University of Pennsylvania, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, the University of Virginia and West Virginia University to complete the five-university consortium.

The transportation center, established in 1988, is a multidisciplinary research center that focuses on developing new solutions for transportation issues. Faculty disciplines range from engineering to psychology. That diversity lends the center its uniqueness, said Michael Casper, an information specialist at the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute.

The center's research includes highway building and design, administration, policy, pavement-maintenance management, transportation operations and structures. Vehicle systems and safety are also addressed.

Previous research projects at the University include estimating damage to roads from horse-and-buggy use in surrounding Amish areas. The project also provides repair and prevention techniques that are culturally and economically acceptable.

The transportation center will use the grant to continue its intercollegiate research and support its students. It continues to provide for more than 30 students at Penn State, including six to 10 undergraduates on internships or at the University, mostly from the College of Engineering and the Smeal College of Business Administration, Miller said.

Casper said proposals to the government grant the center about half of its funding, while service to private industries provides the rest.

"Most of our funding is self-generated," he said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation established the relationship with the University in January 1993. The MAUTC/PennDOT relationship is "very beneficial," Miller said. The students work with "real world issues," while PennDOT receives labor and knowledge.