Q&A: Grad Student Serves as President of UA's ITE Chapter
The National Institute for Transportation & Communities recently highlighted Xiaobo Ma, a civil engineering PhD candidate and president of the University of Arizona's Institute of Transportation Engineers student chapter. NITC's student Q&A series covers a student's history, interests and goals.
What (or who) has influenced your career path in transportation?
Under my advisor Dr. Yao-Jan Wu’s supervision, I have been involved in several research projects and doing solid practical and theoretical research in developing local, regional, and national solutions to solve the traffic mobility and safety issues on arterials and freeways in the past couple of years. The positive and influential outcomes of these research projects greatly motivate me to continue to work on developing effective technologies and data-driven solutions to improve the mobility and safety of road users and goods.
You're the president of UA's ITE Student Chapter. Tell us about what the student group has accomplished this year?
Managing the UAITE's regular meetings, arranging conference trips, pursuing funding opportunities for the UAITE, and involvement in the K-12 STEM outreach activities are major accomplishments of the student group. We invited speakers from both academia and industry to share their valuable experiences with UAITE members. Besides, UAITE members attended several in-state and out-state conferences. I also took the initiative to get funding from different sources to guarantee the smooth operation of UAITE. In addition, our members actively participated in K-12 STEM outreach activities.