Jason Young is a graduate of economics from Rutgers College. After college, he began working in the Health Insurance industry. But he found the field of transportation to be exciting and dynamic, and decided to pursue graduate studies in this direction. While at S.U.N.Y. Maritime College, he has had the unique opportunity to earn an advanced degree and at the same time experience the rigors of the maritime industry in three summer semesters at sea. His time at sea will culminate into Merchant Marine’s 3rd Mate License.

Adam Levine, Polytechnic University was selected as the 1999 UTRC student of the year. Adam Levine received a B.S. in Engineering for Princeton University in 1988. In 1989, Adam became a junior engineer in the Long Island office of the New York State Department of Transportation. After working as a designer on projects including the first Lon Island Expressway high occupancy vehicle lanes, Adam received his professional engineer’s license in 1995.

Mayrai Gindy, Rutgers University, was selected as the UTRC Student of the Year for 2001. She was honored at the 11th Annual Student of the Year Awards at TRB. Ms. Gindy is currently pursuing her doctorate degree in civil and environmental engineering at Rutgers University. She received her bachelors of science degree in civil engineering, also from Rutgers, with a 4.0 grade point average. As a graduate student, Mayrai has received the AITE Graduate Scholarship, a Center of Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation Graduate Fellowship, and a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.

Kathleen Diaz Carrasquillo was selected as the UTRC Student of the Year for 2002. She was honored at the 12th Annual Student of the Year Awards at TRB. Currently Kathleen is finishing her masters degree at the University of Puerto Rico Mayag?ez. In 1996 she began her undergraduate studies in civil engineering at the University of Puerto Rico, Bayam?n Campus. In 1998 Kathleen was awarded an Associate Degree in Science of Engineering and received the department medal for the highest GPA.

Stacey Eisenman was the UTRC Student of the Year for 2003. Ms. Eisenman is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 2002 she received a BS in Civil Engineering and in 2003 she received an MS in Civil Engineering. In the fall of 2003, Ms. Eisenman began her doctoral program at the University of Maryland (College Park), where she was awarded the University Fellowship and joined the Maryland Transportation Initiative. Ms. Eisenman was selected for the Student of the Year in Region II because of her outstanding academic achievements and her demonstrated research talents.

For the 2004 Student of the Year, UTRC has selected Mr. Joseph Davis, a doctoral student in the Rutgers Transportation Program. Mr. Davis was raised in Colonia, NJ. He graduated from the School of Engineering at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in 2001 with a Bachelors Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Joseph opted to continue his education at Rutgers, receiving his Masters in Structural Engineering in May 2003. Presently Joseph is a Teaching Assistant for the Reinforced Concrete Lab in addition to being a PhD candidate. Joseph is currently working with Dr.

Brenda Cruz has been chosen as 2005 Student of the Year by the University Transportation Research Center. Students of the year are selected on technical merit, research, academic performance, professionalism, and leadership. Ms. Cruz was an outstanding participant in the NYSDOT sponsored university research project “Potential for Off-Peak Deliveries to Commercial Urban Areas”, which was conducted by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on behalf of NYSDOT and was presented at NYMTC last year. Ms. Cruz has also received national recognition as the recipient of the 2005 Charley V.

Eugene Sit was born and raised in New York City, which may have helped instill in him a wide-ranging curiosity about all things urban. At Columbia University, where he was a C. Prescott Davis Scholar, he supplemented his Civil Engineering courses with ones on transportation and urban development, architecture and planning, politics, and anthropology. He received his Bachelor of Science degree with a departmental citation in 2002. Soon after graduation, Eugene found himself in the employ of Vollmer Associates, LLP as a Junior Engineer in the transportation department.

Benjamin Reim, the 2007 Student of the Year from UTRC, lived and grew up in Palmer, Massachusetts. He attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to study engineering. From 2001 to 2003, he was unsure on the field of engineering he wished to pursue, however a meeting with his advisor sparked an interest in transportation engineering. In the remaining two years of his Bachelor’s program, he participated in two summer internships with Massachusetts Highway Department and Whiting Turner Contractors. He graduated with a B.S.

Ellen Thorson joined UTRC's staff in 2005. She has over seven years of experience working as a consultant for government agencies as well as private companies, primarily in the areas of freight and passenger transportation demand modeling. She has a doctorate in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.