ITS Canada Michel Van Aerde Memorial Scholarship for Graduate Study in ITS

2004 Recipients

The Education and Training Committee is pleased to announce that two candidates for ITS Canada's Michel Van Aerde Memorial Scholarship have been successful and will share the award, receiving $5,000 each.

Hoda Talaat and Jinwoo Lee, both of the University of Toronto, have been chosen as co-recipients of the 2004 award for the academic year 2004–2005. The Review Committee made the selections based on strong academic records, clearly stated goals, and strong letters of recommendation. As well:

Jinwoo Lee has made important contributions through paper publications and a presentation at TRB. Jinwoo has real-world work experience in ITS through his transit priority and adaptive control work. Jinwoo is currently in the last year of his PhD program and is performing research work at the University of Toronto’s ITS Centre and Testbed.

Hoda Talaat has achieved an outstanding academic record throughout her undergraduate and graduate years. Before she was accepted for the PhD program at the University of Toronto’s ITS Centre and Testbed, she assisted in teaching undergraduate engineering courses. Hoda is currently in the second year of her PhD program specializing in the challenging field of dynamic traffic assignment.

ITS Canada's Michel Van Aerde Memorial Scholarship was established by ITS Canada to commemorate the contribution that Professor Michel Van Aerde made to the ITS industry. Professor Van Aerde was a leader in the academic field, with positions at the University of Waterloo and Queens University, where he played a leading role in the development of ITS-related curricula. He was also very active in research, specifically in areas of operational and benefits assessments using modelling techniques. This led to the development of the INTEGRATION model which was used extensively in some of the early evaluations of ITS projects, both in North America and internationally. Professor Van Aerde subsequently accepted a position at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, playing a senior role in their ITS programs. In addition, Professor Van Aerde was active in the private sector where he successfully pursued the commercialization of the INTEGRATION model. Professor Van Aerde was one of the inaugural directors of ITS Canada.

ITS Canada thanks all the candidates who competed for the 2004 award and invites potential applicants to watch the website for future scholarship opportunities.