Jose Cazares, a doctoral student with the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University, was selected as a recipient of the 2018 Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship. The fellowship includes a $5,000 award and was presented to Cazares at the annual Transportation Research Board (TRB) meeting in January.
Cazares plans to use the fellowship to continue his research interests and partially fund his doctoral program.
“My interest right now is to do something that is related to autonomous vehicles,” Cazares said. “There are so many things that we still need to learn in regards to how they are going to affect traffic, what their behavior will mean for travel on our roads, and I am fascinated to see what is waiting on the other side of this technology.”
Cazares was excited to attend the annual TRB meeting not only for the presentation of the award, but also for the networking the event provides. Cazares previously attended the annual meeting to present on some of his research during his master’s program, which involved research on connected vehicles.
“Connected vehicles are essentially vehicles that are driven by humans, but are able to receive information from other vehicles or roadside devices,” Cazares said. “My research looked into the impact of these vehicles on a corridor in Plano, Texas, and how different amounts of connected vehicles present during the morning rush hour may affect travel times, even during an accident.”
This work helps traffic management centers, who monitor traffic networks of specific areas. Data on how certain vehicles impact roadways gives officials the information necessary to see how they can install specific roadway devices to deal with expected traffic issues.
As Cazares looks forward to beginning his doctoral education this spring, he is grateful for the opportunities that his fellowship will provide him.
“I’m really grateful for this fellowship because it’s helping me at least fund the beginning of my time studying for my Ph.D.,” Cazares said. “Any help I can get with that is really great and I appreciate that it’s helping me remain stable and pay off my education.”