Worcester, MA-Robert Doe, a senior at Assumption College, will receive the 2000 Outstanding University of Transportation Center (UTC) Student of the Year from the U.S. Department of Transportation at an award ceremony to be held at the Omni Shoreham's Regency Ballroom in Washington, DC on January 8, 2001.
The ceremony will present Robert with a $1000 award and a certificate of recognition by a high-ranking official from the Department of Transportation (DOT). Last year's award was presented by Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater.
Robert, a native of Norwood, Massachusetts, will graduate this coming spring from Assumption College with a double major in chemistry and philosophy. He recently completed a project funded by Assumption's UTC, entitled "Student Conducted Studies of Catalytic Electrode Surfaces for Fuel Cell Applications." The project took place under the guidance of Dr. Brian Niece, assistant professor of Chemistry at the College. As with all science projects supported by Assumption's UTC, Robert's project was designed to make a contribution to the field, as well as to have applications in K-12 science curricula.
For the past nine years, the U.S. Department of Transportation has honored the most outstanding student from each of the University Transportation Centers located throughout the country. The ceremony has always been held in January during Transportation Research Board Week.
Assumption College's UTC seeks, through programs of education, research, and technology, to develop a K-12 education and science curricula incorporating transportation and environmental issues.
After graduating from Assumption, Robert Doe plans to attend
graduate school in chemistry, where he would like to focus on
inorganic or organometallic projects. Following graduate school,
he would then like to pursue a career in industrial research before
turning to a second career in teaching.