As Montana State University's focal point for transportation research, one of the Western Transportation Institute's goals is to develop a multidisciplinary program in the field of transportation education. To meet this goal, WTI offers small grants to student associations from a variety of academic disciplines seeking to pursue a transportation-related activity. Student groups may apply for small grants to support activities that provide an educational or outreach experience in transportation to their members. This support is designed to bring transportation learning opportunities directly to students, enhance multidisciplinary and experiential learning in the transportation field, and to introduce students outside of transportation engineering to transportation concepts, technologies, and issues.

Recently supported activities

An MSU class had the unique opportunity to build and test an electric-powered truck, thanks in part to a WTI project grant. The Technology Education class gained first-hand experience in converting a gasoline truck to electric power. Students participated in all aspects of the project, from removing the old engine to installing and testing the new engine, electric batteries, and related equipment. The truck, which had a failing engine and 120,000 miles on it, was donated by MSU Facilities Services. The new and improved electric model was returned to the Facilities Services fleet for campus use.

The project involved a broad community partnership, including donations from campus organizations and auto supply stores. The Technology Education program at MSU aims to develop technological literacy and teaching skills among its students. Students in the program are training to be teachers of vocational education. High school students from around Montana were able to follow the progress of the electric vehicle project via the website www.sparky.montana.edu set up by the students. A "How to" manual was also developed for people interested in conversion of gasoline vehicles to electric operation.

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) student chapter at MSU received support from WTI for two years in a row to compete at the ASCE Pacific Northwest regional steel bridge and concrete canoe competition. Both teams performed extremely well. The 2003 concrete canoe earned the students second place overall. In 2004, their revised canoe placed first, earning them the right to compete at the national competition held in Washington, D.C. in June.

Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) undergraduates received support from WTI to design and build two small computer-controlled wheeled vehicles and to explore vehicle sensors and "smart car" technology. The computer-controlled wheeled mobile robots that were produced during the project competed at the Ball Aerospace Robotics contest held at Utah State University. ECE students then completed a second grant-supported project involving the design and construction of an intelligent navigation and control system for a wheeled vehicle. The project explored the development and demonstration of prototype computer-controlled vehicle software and hardware systems relevant to transportation technologies.