This year’s outstanding student from Region 2 was Meena Kuriakose, currently an AITE scholar at Polytechnic University. Ms. Kuriakose was born and raised in India. Her interest in science and math in high school led her to study civil engineering at the Government Engineering College in Trichur, India. After coming to the United States in 1989, Ms. Kuriakose received a diploma in computer programming from New York University. She started working at New York State Department of Transportation in 1990 and continued her studies in structural engineering at CCNY. She is currently a Civil Engineer I in Structures in the NYSDOT Region 2 office. Upon being awarded an AITE scholarship in Fall 1993, she switched to a Masters in Transportation at Polytechnic. She plans to graduate this Spring. She was honored, along with the Students of the Year from the other University Transportation Center, at a dinner ceremony at The Transportation Research Board’s Annual Meeting. Mortimer L. Downey, a Region 2 alumnus, made the speech and the awards. Besides Meena Kuriakose, the Region 2 contingent included her husband and daughter Elizabeth, Buz Paaswell, and Claire McKnight. The surprise star of the evening was five-year-old Elizabeth Kuriakose.