Graduate students in the transportation and logistics program at NDSU recently attended a student and faculty retreat hosted by the Mountain-Plains Consortium. Master’s degree and doctoral students traveled to Snowbird, Utah, to meet with students and faculty from the five other universities in the consortium.

Each student gave a presentation on a research topic, providing a forum to discuss challenges and successes and to gather feedback as the students move forward with research. The presentations initiated conversations about collaborating on research projects and helped students understand the scope of research conducted by Mountain-Plains Consortium universities.

University of Utah program director Peter Martin believes the retreat was a tremendous success. “The weekend was a time for students to practice, learn and grow,” he said. Martin also took the students to the University of Utah’s Traffic Lab to experience the real-time Traffic Operations Center and VISSIM Driver Simulator.

The Mountain-Plains Consortium is one of 10 competitively selected regional University Transportation Centers Programs sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation. At NDSU, the consortium is housed with the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute. Denver Tolliver, NDSU, is the consortium’s director.