My first involvement with the rail industry came as a summer internship with CSX Transportation in 2007. The experience got me interested in a rail career, so after my return to Michigan Tech, I tried to find a way to combine my two passions; railroads and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Fortunately, I was able to secure another internship with Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad (LS&I) in Negaunee, MI for the summer of 2008 and after getting some more experience through Dr. Lautala’s CE 5409 Track Engineering and Design course, LS&I hired me full time as their Civil Engineer in 2009.
Alumni
Michigan Tech has decades long tradition of placing graduates to rail industry careers. Since Rail Transportation Program was established more than 100 Michigan Tech graduates have started their employment in the industry.RTP alumni work for various industry companies, including Class I and smaller freight railroads, passenger railroads, engineering consultants and rail contractors, manufacturers, and DOTS. Our alumni often participate by supporting our programming. Examples for how Alumni can continue to be involved in RTP programming: organizing on-site field trip visits, providing student research project ideas and involvement, providing scholarship support, giving presentations.
We welcome our alumni to keep in touch! Let us know what you are doing. Please fill the Alumni Feedback Form or send an email to rtp@mtu.edu. We can share your news!
RTP Alumni in Rail Industry
Senior Signals & Communications Standards Engineer, CN
At no point in my childhood and teen years did I ever think of “workin’ on the railroad.” It wasn’t until a gentleman named Pasi Lautala helped set me on a different track, by talking about railroads in my Controls class at Michigan Tech. After going to an informational meeting, and talking to CN at the career fair, I was sold.
Sharma & Associates
Hamed worked on “Capacity Improvement Along the U.S. Shared-Use Corridors by Applying Timetable and Operational Management Techniques “ , funded by NURail. He was also a co-PI for another project, Evaluating the Use of Operational Management Techniques for Capacity Improvements on Shared-Use Rail Corridors. The project started in September, 2014, and was funded by the Center for Freight and Intermodal Research and Education (CFIRE). His Ph.D. thesis was closely aligned with project work and evaluated different U.S.
Design Engineer, Hanson Professional Services - MS Graduate (2009), Civil Engineering
Shane Ferrell became the first graduate of the Rail Transportation Program (RTP) at Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech). He received his BS in Civil Engineering from Michigan Tech in 2008 and was awarded a MS in Civil Engineering with the completion of his thesis “Maintaining Stability Beneath Cold Climate Transportation Infrastructure with Special Emphasis on Railroads” in August 2009.
Design Engineer, HDR, Inc. - MS Graduate (2009), Civil Engineering
Justin Hicks graduated from the Michigan Tech Rail Transportation Program (RTP) in December 2009 with a MS degree in Civil Engineering. In Justin’s words “he got hooked on rail” after attending one informational meeting for the Summer in Finland Program during his freshman year.
Staff Engineer, Engineered Rail Solutions, LLC - MS Graduate (2014), Civil Engineering
Irfan Rasul was an International student from Bangladesh, where he finished his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Irfan completed his MS in Civil Engineering at Michigan Tech, with an emphasis in transportation. His course work included rail, modeling and GIS related courses.
AECOM
Brandon graduated in December, 2010 with a BS in Civil Engineering and is a Transit Engineer with AECOM in Minneapolis, MN. Brandon has been working on track design for the $1.8 Billion Southwest Light Rail project in the Twin Cities for the past three years.
CSX Transportation
Steffanie graduated in May 2010 with a BS in Civil Engineering. She has been working with CSX Transportation since May of 2011.
“This job is my first experience in the rail industry. I learned of this position at the MTU 2011 Spring Career Fair. I was looking for a job related to bridges, but I didn’t want to work for a consulting firm. I didn’t realize I could pursue a career in bridges while working in the rail industry until I spoke with the CSX representative at MTU."
Assistant Manager of Methods and Research, UPRR
Tom graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in 2008. He is currently
the Assistant Manager of Methods and Research with Union Pacific Railroad in Omaha, Nebraska.
Tom’s career with Union Pacific began with a co-op from June to December of 2006. He was hired
as a full-time employee in August of 2008.
Manager of Mechanical Maintenence, UPRR
Victoria is a 2012 graduate with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. In June of 2012 she began work for Union Pacific Railroad as an Operations Management Trainee (OMT). When her training is complete Victoria will become a Manager of Mechanical Maintenance.
“I had not thought about working for the railroad until visiting the Career Fair at Michigan Tech. After talking to the representative from Union Pacific and looking into their program, my interest grew."
