NJDOT awards grad student for transportation work
November 24, 2008The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) presented the Outstanding University Student Transportation Research Award to Vivek Jha, a graduate student at Rowan University, for work he did on NJDOT-sponsored projects that involved designing a pavement catalog, which would be used for the construction of roads in New Jersey.
The award is given to one student from each university in partnership with NJDOT.
Jha also has been working on a project sponsored by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, which has lead to recommendations to that state on ways to mitigate fatigue cracking.
An honor student, the 23-year-old Jha also has published a professional paper and has another paper under review.
A native of Mumbai, India, Jha decided to earn his master's in engineering after meeting Dr. Yusuf Mehta, a civil and environmental engineering associate professor who is also his graduate advisor at Rowan.
"Transportation is one of the few fields where one can see his work put into practice in a very short time," Jha said. "The catalog we designed for NJDOT will be used by the state officials on its completion, and nothing gives me more pleasure than to see my work go into practice."
Jha said Rowan has helped him tremendously as an engineer. "Rowan has given me exposure to projects that I would not have received elsewhere," he said. "Under the guidance of Dr. Mehta I have gained in-depth knowledge, which I am sure will help me immensely in my career. I would also like to thank my colleagues Nusrat Siraj, Keicha Muriel and Edward Saridaki, whose invaluable help have made this project a success, and NJDOT for the award as well their support over the past year."
