Staff NotesMary Marquart exclusively focuses on ATACMary Marquart, administrative assistant to ATAC, now dedicates 100% of her time to ATAC activities. Previously, Mary provided parttime help to the TEL8 program at the UGPTI. Mary handles all of the administrative functions for ATAC, including budgeting, accounting, communications, and program support. This move could not have come at a better time given the increasing growth in contract awards at ATAC. Jason Baker Joins ATAC
Doug Benson Assists in North Dakota ITS Communications Plan
Graduate StudentsDiomo MotubaDiomo joined ATAC as a graduate research assistant in 2004. He earned his B.S. degree in botany from the University of Buea in Cameroon and is finishing his M.S. thesis in Agribusiness and Applied Economics at NDSU. Diomo is assisting with ATAC's Metropolitan Transportation Planning Support program. His research interests include GPS-based travel data collection and urban freight demand estimation. Diomo currently is pursuing a Ph.D in Transportation Logistics at NDSU. Mohammad NasserMohammad joined ATAC the fall of 2004 as a graduate research assistant. Mohammad was the top student in his graduating class at the University of Jordan, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. Due to his scholastic achievements, he was awarded a scholarship through a partnership between the University of Jordan and ATAC. Mohammad has been working with ATAC's Metropolitan Transportation Planning Support program. He is currently pursuing a M.S. degree in civil engineering at NDSU. ATAC Sponsors ITE Student Chapter Trip
The students experienced technical demonstrations, rode the light rail trains, observed the lock and dam system on the Mississippi River, and had a lunch discussion with consulting engineering firms about issues in the transportation field. Funding for the trip was provided in part by ATAC. |
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Jason Baker joined ATAC in May 2005 as an associate research fellow. He began work with ATAC in 2002 as an undergraduate research assistant. Jason's main responsibilities will be in the areas of traffic operations and ITS. He has conducted research on advanced traffic data collection technologies, including video, radar, tubes, and others. Jason has been responsible for maintaining and operating ATAC's Traffic Data Collection System, as well as providing training to local and state transportation agency staff on the use of the system. Jason received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from North Dakota State University in 2003 and is currently pursuing a master's degree in the area of transportation.
Doug Benson, a longtime researcher with the UGPTI, joined ATAC in October 2004 to assist in researching communication options for ITS in North Dakota. He is assisting in the development of North Dakota's Statewide ITS Communications Plan to identify communication alternatives in support of ITS deployment and developing ITS communications standards and implementation strategies. Doug previously served as the Executive Director of TEL8, a six-state video conference network, managed the development of a short-line and regional-railroad database system and has helped develop several computer programming systems.
The ITE Student Chapter at NDSU organized a field trip for its members to spend two days in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Sixteen students participated in the trip which included site visits to the following locations: