ITS America and Southwest Research Institute are once again proudly sponsoring the Annual Student Essay Competition for the 2013 ITS America Annual Meeting, held in Nashville, Tennessee on April 22-24, 2013 (www.itsa.org/annualmeeting).
The Student Essay Competition is designed to encourage student interest and future participation in the development of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and solutions. The objective of the essay competition is to provide an opportunity for today’s transportation and engineering students to apply their knowledge in a thought-provoking and enjoyable competition and to build awareness of ITS as a career path with unlimited potential.
Each year, students from all of the country respond to a variety of topics and provide their insight to the ITS industry. Students are an important part of the continued development of the ITS industry, a field of expertise that is vitally important to our nation’s economy and our way of life.
AWARDS
The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will receive $1,500, $1,000, or $500 respectively. Additional recognition includes:
-- The 1st place winner will be invited to attend the Awards ceremony at the ITS America Annual Meeting on Tuesday, April 23rd and be assisted financially to cover trip expenses.
-- Receive a complimentary full registration to attend the conference.
-- Have the opportunity to present their winning essay at the dedicated Interactive Session area in the exhibit hall.
-- Have their winning essays displayed on the Student Essay Competition Web page of ITS America’s website.
-- All three winners will be featured in nationally-distributed press releases.
“The student essay competition encourages students around the U.S. to take a more active interest in the application of advanced technologies to transportation by challenging them to focus their concepts and ideas. We are proud to be a part of this ITS America initiative to foster and encourage the advanced technology consultants and solution providers of tomorrow.”
— Steve Dellenback, Ph.D, PMP, Southwest Research Institute
STUDENT ESSAY TOPICS
Essays must be based on one of the following topics.
- Topic 1: Next Generation Cooperative Systems, how will they evolve? Subtopics:
- How cooperative systems will quantitatively improve the performance of standalone active vehicle safety systems?
- One of the challenges of implementing cooperative systems is the penetration rate required. What are the barriers to achieving the necessary penetration rates in order to realize system level benefits of a specific cooperative system/application?
- Describe relevant research into the application of multi-agent/intelligent agent theory on current transportation challenges.
- Describe the importance of Infrastructure (roadside equipment) in the deployment of a large-scale V2V cooperative system.
- Topic 2: How is ITS evolving? Subtopics:
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- How will regions integrate their data to provide consolidated views for the traveling public?
- What is the next emerging technology that will impact ITS?
- How can social networks improve traveler information and collection of traffic conditions data?
- How can ITS technologies reduce the environmental impact of our transportation systems?
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- Topic 3: What are the technological barriers to near term realization of fully autonomous systems on US highways?
Essay Format Requirements
- The cover page must include the title of the essay, author’s name, name of school, mailing address, phone number, and the student’s e-mail address and phone number. The author’s name and essay title should appear at the top of all other pages.
- Essays should be typed, double spaced, and appear on 8 ½”x11” white paper.
- A complete bibliography should be included, if appropriate.
- Essays are not to exceed 2,000 words in length, must be written by only one person, and should not have appeared in any publications other than in school publications.
Eligibility Requirements
- Authors must be graduate or undergraduate full-time students enrolled in an accredited institution of learning in the U.S.
- Entries are limited to one paper per student and should be original, unpublished work of an individual student.
Essay Evaluation Criteria
Essays will be evaluated considering the following criteria:
- Writing quality and clarity and presentation of information in an easy to read, yet engaging format;
- Interest of the topic and content to the broad Intelligent Transportation Systems industry;
- Analysis and reasoning;
- Timeliness, originality, and creativity;
- Quality and use of research;
- Depth of knowledge, and awareness of ITS issues and challenges; and
- Compliance with these rules.
Application Procedure
Entries must be submitted in electronic formats. Essays must be accompanied by a cover letter from a faculty advisor or department chair. E-mail essays to Patty Fusaro, ITS America at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by 5 p.m. (EST) on Friday, March 15, 2013.
Selection
Entries will be reviewed and the final selections made by a selection committee comprised of ITS America members and Southwest Research Institute representatives. The winners will be notified on April 1, 2013.
ITS America and Southwest Research Institute strongly encourage the winners to be present for the awards ceremony on Tuesday, April 23, 2013 in Nashville, TN at the Opryland Conference Center and Hotel.
Additional Information
Questions should be directed to Patty Fusaro, ITS America at 202-721-4238 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .