(WEST LAFAYETTE) - Eight students from Trine University's Reiners Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering recently traveled to Purdue University for the 112th Purdue Road School Transportation Conference and Expo.
The annual program, held March 17 and 18 in West Lafayette, featured nearly 200 sessions across 18 technical tracks and drew thousands of transportation and engineering professionals.
Trine faculty say the conference gave students a chance to connect classroom learning with real-world engineering practice.
Associate Professor Hemin Mohammed says the event helped students build confidence while seeing firsthand how engineering decisions are made by industry professionals and leaders.
Students attended sessions covering a range of transportation and infrastructure topics, including bridge design, roundabout safety, multimodal transportation and long-term campus planning.
Justin Beck, a civil engineering student from Charlotte, Michigan, said one of the biggest takeaways was the importance of staying current with new transportation technologies and best practices.
Vaughn Cooper, an Angola native studying civil engineering, said the conference reinforced how critical communication is on large-scale engineering and bridge projects.
The university says the annual Road School continues to give Trine students direct exposure to transportation challenges and solutions they may work on in their future careers