It's about time if finally introduce myself after being an AARoads member for about a year now. My name is Jacob, I reside in Eau Claire, WI, and have a passion for Traffic Engineering. I am currently completing my final year of public school (Senior in High School) and am planning on going to UW-Platteville after high school to get the necessary degrees and such for Traffic Engineering, likely something related to DOT signalling or DOT traffic control, as I have gone on a ridealong with a DOT employee from the state office here in town, and have found out what a great opportunity I have. You may recognize my username from various other websites, as I have many other interests such as outdoor warning sirens, fire alarms, railroad crossing signals/"railfanning", etc... I would be interested to hear from some of the other area WI and MN members on here that may get to my neck of the woods now and then. Happy Roadgeeking!
Welcome from Louisville, KY!
Welcome!
meh
Welcome from still warm in November Winnipeg!
I am currently a second/third year civil engineering student at the U of M in Winnipeg. As you would imagine, I am into transportation and traffic engineering like yourself.
Quote from: JMAN12343610 on November 04, 2016, 10:28:56 PM
...and am planning on going to UW-Platteville after high school to get the necessary degrees and such for Traffic Engineering, likely something related to DOT signalling or DOT traffic control,...
Not that Platteville is a bad school* (as I do have many co-workers that graduated from there), are you open to other colleges? Bias aside, Madison has a strong civil engineering program, which houses a traffic operations research lab (http://www.topslab.wisc.edu/) (they work closely with WisDOT), in addition to having a full-scale driving simulator on-campus. While I can't speak with personal experience for the classes at Platteville, there is a course at Madison where you get to wire-up traffic signals to a real controller cabinet.
*
The quasi-rivalry between Platteville and Madison makes that statement hard for me to say with a straight-face
Welcome from Massachusetts!
As you have probably seen by now, lots of Wisconsin members and discussion to be found on the forum. Glad to have you on board.
Since you mentioned it, there's a few of us who are either from Minnesota or currently live there.
Welcome from greater Cincinnati!
Welcome to the board from your neighbors to the east in the Mitten!
Quote from: DaBigE on November 06, 2016, 02:39:43 AM
Quote from: JMAN12343610 on November 04, 2016, 10:28:56 PM
...and am planning on going to UW-Platteville after high school to get the necessary degrees and such for Traffic Engineering, likely something related to DOT signalling or DOT traffic control,...
Not that Platteville is a bad school* (as I do have many co-workers that graduated from there), are you open to other colleges? Bias aside, Madison has a strong civil engineering program, which houses a traffic operations research lab (http://www.topslab.wisc.edu/) (they work closely with WisDOT), in addition to having a full-scale driving simulator on-campus. While I can't speak with personal experience for the classes at Platteville, there is a course at Madison where you get to wire-up traffic signals to a real controller cabinet.
*The quasi-rivalry between Platteville and Madison makes that statement hard for me to say with a straight-face
I have basically made the decision to go to Platteville because after my tour of the WisDOT state office here in Eau Claire and talking to a bunch of the engineers, they all said they went there and they had great programs for what I want to go into, and I didn't want to go to a school in a really large unfamiliar city, plus Platteville is probably slightly cheaper on the wallet, I would look into going there. Now that you have said that I will do my research on Madison, but with deadlines approaching, Platteville is likely my decision. Thanks for the input! :)
Quote from: JMAN12343610 on November 14, 2016, 08:59:40 PM
Quote from: DaBigE on November 06, 2016, 02:39:43 AM
Quote from: JMAN12343610 on November 04, 2016, 10:28:56 PM
...and am planning on going to UW-Platteville after high school to get the necessary degrees and such for Traffic Engineering, likely something related to DOT signalling or DOT traffic control,...
Not that Platteville is a bad school* (as I do have many co-workers that graduated from there), are you open to other colleges? Bias aside, Madison has a strong civil engineering program, which houses a traffic operations research lab (http://www.topslab.wisc.edu/) (they work closely with WisDOT), in addition to having a full-scale driving simulator on-campus. While I can't speak with personal experience for the classes at Platteville, there is a course at Madison where you get to wire-up traffic signals to a real controller cabinet.
*The quasi-rivalry between Platteville and Madison makes that statement hard for me to say with a straight-face
I have basically made the decision to go to Platteville because after my tour of the WisDOT state office here in Eau Claire and talking to a bunch of the engineers, they all said they went there and they had great programs for what I want to go into, and I didn't want to go to a school in a really large unfamiliar city, plus Platteville is probably slightly cheaper on the wallet, I would look into going there. Now that you have said that I will do my research on Madison, but with deadlines approaching, Platteville is likely my decision. Thanks for the input! :)
UW-Platteville was my second choice, but it's a good thing I went to Madison because I ended up deciding not to major in engineering. Of course, I missed out on some good D3 Bo Ryan basketball!
UW-Platteville is a great choice for Civil Engineering, especially if you plan to stay in state after graduation. Besides, you can always go to Madison for grad school! The downside to UW-Platteville is that it is 70% male, and it is in Platteville.
Good luck!
Quote from: Mrt90 on November 15, 2016, 10:22:52 AM
Quote from: JMAN12343610 on November 14, 2016, 08:59:40 PM
Quote from: DaBigE on November 06, 2016, 02:39:43 AM
Quote from: JMAN12343610 on November 04, 2016, 10:28:56 PM
...and am planning on going to UW-Platteville after high school to get the necessary degrees and such for Traffic Engineering, likely something related to DOT signalling or DOT traffic control,...
Not that Platteville is a bad school* (as I do have many co-workers that graduated from there), are you open to other colleges? Bias aside, Madison has a strong civil engineering program, which houses a traffic operations research lab (http://www.topslab.wisc.edu/) (they work closely with WisDOT), in addition to having a full-scale driving simulator on-campus. While I can't speak with personal experience for the classes at Platteville, there is a course at Madison where you get to wire-up traffic signals to a real controller cabinet.
*The quasi-rivalry between Platteville and Madison makes that statement hard for me to say with a straight-face
I have basically made the decision to go to Platteville because after my tour of the WisDOT state office here in Eau Claire and talking to a bunch of the engineers, they all said they went there and they had great programs for what I want to go into, and I didn't want to go to a school in a really large unfamiliar city, plus Platteville is probably slightly cheaper on the wallet, I would look into going there. Now that you have said that I will do my research on Madison, but with deadlines approaching, Platteville is likely my decision. Thanks for the input! :)
UW-Platteville was my second choice, but it's a good thing I went to Madison because I ended up deciding not to major in engineering. Of course, I missed out on some good D3 Bo Ryan basketball!
UW-Platteville is a great choice for Civil Engineering, especially if you plan to stay in state after graduation. Besides, you can always go to Madison for grad school! The downside to UW-Platteville is that it is 70% male, and it is in Platteville.
Good luck!
Thanks! That means a lot.
I know some people in school that are going to Madison for other fields of study, and from what I can tell, the entrance process alone is much more complicated, with multiple statements, letters of recommendation, and earlier application deadlines. I will be submitting my application to Platteville within the next week or so. The engineer at the DOT I shadowed said that some of his more in depth structural engineering classes were 4-6 kids max, and that when you get that specific, you really get into what you are learning, as everybody around you also shares the same passion for the subject. He said it was funny how most of the non-family members and his college grad party were his professors since with class sizes that small, I suppose you really get to know your teacher. I am really glad I posted this here, I didn't realize there were so many people who share similar experiences with me as far as career and schooling. I certainly plan on staying in Wisconsin, if not the Chippewa Valley/Western Wisconsin, Wisconsin in general. Born and raised here, it really is a great state, and the people are so nice.
Thanks Again!