Graduate Student Delegate Program, Transportation Research Forum, Jersey City, NJ

Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development
DePaul University  14 E. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604  |  312.362.5731

University students interested in transportation,

I would like to bring to your attention a new resume-building opportunity available for graduate students interested in transportation. We invite them to be Graduate Student Delegates at the 61st Transportation Research Forum conference being held in downtown Jersey City, NJ, across the river from New York, NY, on Thursday March 12 and Friday, March 13, 2020. Experts from around the country will gather to learn about the latest research on important freight and passenger transportation. My academic center, the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University, invites graduate students to take part in the institute’s newly created Delegate Program at the Forum. The Delegate Program runs from 1 p.m. Thursday, March 12 to 5 p.m. on Friday, March 13. 

The Delegate Program will allow 6 – 8 graduate students to take part in exclusive opportunities:

• Experiencing the conference sessions and the Friday Awards Luncheon as a group while meeting Delegates from other universities. Luncheon Speaker: Kevin Corbett, CEO, New Jersey Transit.
• Special networking activities during conference breaks to converse with distinguished professionals in the field.  
• Group dinner at an off-site restaurant at no cost to Delegates to discuss transportation-related interests. (Thursday)
• A one-hour small-group gathering in which each delegate can converse about their career or research goals with an expert in the field (Friday). We ask each delegate to bring a two-paragraph summary of their research or career interests. 
• A walking tour of transit-oriented development, including the PATH Exchange Place area and Bergen-Hudson Light Rail, for Delegates only (Friday afternoon).
• A certificate of completion awarded at the culmination of the program.

Students who are making poster or lectern presentations at the conference are not eligible for the program, although they may informally participate in the activities.

Delegates need to register for the conference, but can do so at a special discounted rate of $70, which includes the special graduate-only events, the Awards Luncheon, one dinner, coffee breaks, and Friday tour and optional Saturday tours after the conference.  The fee also includes a one-year TRF student membership. This is a $100 discount over the normal student rate, a saving above and beyond the special delegate tours and programs. Delegates arrange for their own travel, lodging and transfers. Please email for information about lodging options that are available.

We invite all graduate students who are interested in this opportunity to contact us. If you are an undergraduate, please email about other options. Questions welcome. Expressions of interestor questions can be sent to me at [email protected]. I will provide a registration link. 

Sincerely, 

Joseph Schwieterman, Ph.D.
President, Chicago Chapter, TRF |  Professor, DePaul University
[email protected]
312.362.5732