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Each year, ASCE features 10 inspiring young people in its New Faces of Civil Engineering. This year, one of those featured was Peter Yu, an undergraduate researcher from the University of Washington. Here was they had to say about him here:

“Meet a rapidly rising STAR of transportation engineering – Peter Yu, a University of Washington junior who works in the university’s Smart Transportation Applications and Research Laboratory. As a contributor to pioneering developments in intelligent traffic operations and safety, he’s focused on improving highway interchanges.

“Interchanges form the backbone of the entire highway network and force various users to compete for the same space, which makes this work challenging,” Yu said. “Nonetheless, simulation test results indicate they show great promise in increasing safety and mobility for people walking, biking, and driving in comparison to state-of-the-art junction designs and control strategies.” Yu developed two new interchange designs and novel traffic signal control schemes for them.

With award-winning research that rivals that produced by graduate students, Yu already has presented findings at several professional conferences including last year’s ASCE International Conference on Transportation and Development in Seattle and has had several journal papers published. He’s looking ahead to earning a doctorate and working either as a professor or a practitioner.

Yu also pulls double duty as president of both the University of Washington’s ASCE student chapter and the Institute of Transportation Engineers student chapter. “I am able to make a positive impact in the experiences of other civil engineering students, especially younger chapter members,” he said.”