IRF Announces 2009 Student Essay Competition Winners

For Immediate Release: September 15, 2009

IRF announced today the five winners of its annual student essay competition. Students from more than 20 universities submitted essays to this year’s competition. An international panel of expert judges graded each paper and a winner from each category was selected based upon the cumulative scores from each judge.

This year the essay competition was open to five categories. The winners are listed below in each category:

Road Safety

Bo Wang, Iowa State University
What_low-cost_initiatives_are_available_to_make_roads_safer_for_vulnerable_users

Sustainable Roads

Maha El-Metwally, Virginia Tech
Analysis_of_Capacity_Drop_at_Congestion_toward_Better_Environment

Innovative Financing

Jeff Thiele, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Road_Pricing_to_Reduce_Congestion,_Pollution,_and_Injury_Accidents

Intelligent Transportation Systems

Pengfei Li, Virginia Tech
Design_optimal_ITS_Systems_Using_Simulation-based_Optimization_and_Retrospective_Approximation_Techniques

Pavement Technology, Maintenance and Management

Karen O’Sullivan, Worcester Polythecnic Institute
100_Percent_Recycling_–_Sustainability_in_Pavement_Construction

The award winners will be recognized at the Annual IRF Awards Banquet being held during TRB in January 2010.

---

Founded in 1948, the International Road Federation (IRF) is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization with members from both the public and private sectors in 90 countries worldwide. IRF promotes the development and maintenance of better, safer roads and road networks throughout the world, using technological solutions and management practices that provide maximum economic and social returns from road investment.

###