Railroad Night offered a relaxed dine-with-industry setting for faculty, students, industry, administration and community to meet each other and to learn more about railroads and the railroad industry. The event included hors d’oeuvres , cash bar, door prizes, and more. This event continues to draw in record numbers of participants with each year with over 165 this year. The Keynote Speaker was Lisa Stabler, President of the Transportation Technology Center Inc., Pueblo, Colorado.
The Rail Transportation Program (RTP) and the Rail Engineering and Activities Club (REAC) organized the 9th Annual Railroad Night and related Rail Day activities recently. Railroad Night’s 150-plus participants made for a full house and an exciting evening. The event drew in 15 industry company sponsors including RTP program partners Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific and CN.
The Rail Transportation Program has been founded on a multi-disciplinary approach and this year’s Railroad Night demonstrated the interest across the university. Students and faculty from a diverse cross section of campus attended the event. Faculty and students from ten departments were represented, as well as the administration, including Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Max Seel, Board of Control member Paul Ollila and Vice President for Governmental Relations Dale Tahtinen.
This year’s REAC honorary member, Tom Bartlett (EE, 2008), from Union Pacific was awarded an Honorary REAC membership for his contributions to advance the RTP and REAC. Keynote speaker Lisa Stabler, president of the Transportation Technology Center Inc. (TTCI) of Pueblo, Colo., and one of the leading female executives in the industry gave a presentation on rail industry research and outlook from TTCI. Over 80 students signed up to participate in the event and were provided the opportunity to socialize, network, and dine with industry and faculty. The event this year is considered a great success and yet another step to strengthen ties between faculty researchers, rail industry representatives, local technology companies and students from Michigan Tech.
