Announcements
UTEP Civil Engineering Student Receives Pair of Awards
MATTHEW EUZARRAGA | February 7, 2018
Matthew M. Vechione
A doctoral student in The University of Texas at El Paso's College of Engineering has received a pair of high honors.
Two agencies have awarded Matthew M. Vechione, a civil engineering student, with recognition and financial rewards for his research in transportation.
Vechione was named Outstanding Student of the Year by the Connected Cities for Smart Mobility toward Accessible and Resilient Transportation (C2SMART). The university transportation center located in New York recognized Vechione for his work to develop a smartphone application to help the elderly population use mass transit more efficiently. Vechione worked with the Department of Computer Science on the app.
C2SMART's mission is to accelerate transportation opportunities utilizing communication and smart technology.
Vechione was also awarded the Daniel B. Fambro Student Paper Award by The Texas District of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (TexITE), for his research on lane-changing.
TexITE is a professional organization of individuals in the field of transportation who share a common interest in improving the quality of transportation in the state of Texas. Each recognition included a financial award of $1,000.
"It is an amazing feeling to be recognized for my research efforts," Vechione said. "It is an honor to represent UTEP amongst other great institutions."
In addition to these awards, Vechione has also been a fellow in the Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program. He delivered an oral and poster presentation at the Transportation Research Board (TRB) 97th Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. in January.
Vechione hopes to get into academia after graduation, and has been under the mentorship of Kelvin Cheu, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Civil Engineering.
