T&DI establishes graduate student organization at UIUC

The American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Transportation and Development Institute (T&DI) established a graduate student organization at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in spring 2015. Serving as a gateway between the professional community of T&DI and graduate students, the organization aims at strengthening the professional and extracurricular development of graduate students in transportation engineering. 

In accordance with the main objectives that outline the organization’s mission—professional development, intra-university outreach, and community outreach—members of the organization play a major role in UIUC’s Engineering Open House, an annual student-led event featuring two days of exhibits and competitions that showcase the talent and ingenuity of engineering students at Illinois. In addition, the organization holds regular “Meet ‘n’ Greet” sessions to complement the Kent Seminars, hosted by the Illinois Center for Transportation (ICT), for the purpose of extending interaction between the seminars’ invited speakers and students. The sessions usually include discussions about the presentations, speakers’ research, and ways to achieve professional and academic excellence.

The student organization’s management structure consists of a director, treasurer, and secretary. The director oversees development and execution of the organization’s events; the treasurer handles the budgeting, purchasing, and bookkeeping of finance-related activities; and the secretary is responsible for maintaining the membership listing and updating the organization’s website.

To join the organization, which currently consists of 25 members, one has to be a UIUC student, belong to ASCE and T&DI, and pay an annual student chapter membership fee. For more information about the mission of the ASCE T&DI graduate student organization at UIUC and for a list of upcoming events and workshops, please visit https://publish.illinois.edu/uiuc-tdi-gso/.