Hyeonsup Lim, a PhD candidate in the College of Engineering’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has become the first student from UT to win the Intelligent Transportation Society of Tennessee Scholarship Award and its $2,000 prize.
“I really owe a lot of thanks to the great instructors in CEE,” said Lim. “Dr. Lee Han’s support and encouragement and his referral of me were all significant factors in me winning this.”
Lim’s essay, “The Meaning and Value of ITS in Our Community,” was born out of a bit of introspection on his part.
“Many times I sat and thought to myself, ‘I study ITS, but what does that really mean,'” said Lim. “The big takeaway was that more focus needed to be put on how data was used, what people did with it, rather than just focusing on the quality or amount of data we got.”
Often referred to as big data, the amount of information coming in wasn’t just numerous in and of itself, but often came from multiple sources as well. Finding ways to sort through that, to analyze that for practical results became Lim’s goal.
“Dr. Han, my advisor, has encouraged me often to think about the fundamental purposes and meaning of using those data,” said Lim. “Coming at it from that angle was different from the sort of things I was used to doing, so I was thrilled to think about values of everything I do.”
Lim, who also holds a Chancellor’s Scholarship, works with the Southeastern Transportation Center in their Major Research Initiatives. Putting the goals stated in his essay into practice has become a priority, one made more important by advances in technology.
“The smartphone revolution has really brought about rapid changes and developments in information technology,” said Lim. “The boundaries related to services and systems of ITS are crumbling. The key now is that it is not just simply adapting new technologies, it’s more about how intelligently we use them.”
“It’s a reminder of the ‘intelligent’ part of ITS.”
For more on the College of Engineering, visit the website.
Visit the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering for more information on the department’s programs.
For more on the Southeastern Transportation Center, visit the center’s website.
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C O N T A C T :
David Goddard (865-974-0683, david.goddard@utk.edu)