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InTrans / Nov 02, 2018

InTrans’ Knickerbocker wins Young Transportation Professional Award

The Intelligent Work Zone program developed at the Institute for Transportation (InTrans) has already proven to be a valuable tool for the Iowa Department of Transportation.

Skylar Knickerbocker, center, won the Young Transportation Professional of the Year award from MOVITE. Tyler Wiles, left, MOVITE - Iowa Director, and Andy Swisher, right, MOVITE Vice President, presented Knickerbocker with a plaque this week.
Skylar Knickerbocker, center, won the Young Transportation Professional of the Year award from MOVITE. Tyler Wiles, left, MOVITE – Iowa Director, and Andy Swisher, right, MOVITE Vice President, presented Knickerbocker with a plaque this week.

Now, it’s also helped InTrans Research Engineer Skylar Knickerbocker earn the Young Transportation Professional of the Year Award from the Institute of Transportation Engineers Missouri Valley Section (MOVITE).

Knickerbocker said it is an honor to be recognized by fellow engineers in the Midwest.

“The work that InTrans is doing is having an impact, and I am honored that MOVITE would recognize me for my contributions on the intelligent work zone project with the Iowa DOT,” Knickerbocker said.

Knickerbocker has been working since 2016 to develop and advance the work zone performance monitoring web-based interactive visualization system that gives Iowa DOT’s Office of Traffic Operations real-time information about any traffic issues in critical work zones.

Knickerbocker’s paper summing up that effort caught the attention of the judges. The work was judged by MOVITE as providing a significant contribution to the furtherance, or communication of knowledge related to the professional practice of transportation engineering.

The work Knickerbocker did was under the Center for Transportation Research and Education’s basic agreement with the Iowa DOT’s Office of Traffic Operations.

He led the development, design, and analysis of the work zone performance monitoring system, and oversaw the development of the big data pipeline and the selection of performance measures to use within the visualization tool he then built. He worked with the Iowa DOT throughout the process to ensure it met their needs of providing specific, instant, and useful information about traffic issues in work zones.

Prior to the development of the tool, traffic information in work zones would be summed up in an annual report, typically after the work was completed. The tool now gives the Iowa DOT regular updates so that it can make traffic control changes as the work progresses.

Knickerbocker was presented with a plaque commemorating and citing his achievement this week. The executive summary of his paper will be printed in MOVITE’s journal, with the full paper posted to the website.

Knickerbocker was not the only person from InTrans to earn recognition for his efforts. Several students who work with InTrans were also recognized for their work:

  • Tingting Huang earned first place in the Thomas J. Seburn Student Paper Award. Niloo Parvin won second place.
  • Bijan Vafaei and Niloo Parvin earned the Jan Kibbe Student Scholarship Award.
  • Iowa State University’s Transportation Student Association won the Outstanding Student Chapter Award.

For more information about the work zone performance monitoring program, click here.

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