• February 22, 2019

    PacTrans Fellow Alumni Spotlight: Rich Lee

    Every year, PacTrans participates in a fellowship program and offers enough funding to cover the tuition needed to receive a master’s degree related to transportation to talented students who show great potential to succeed in the field.

    Participants of our program have the opportunity to combine the knowledge they gain in a classroom setting and the experiences they are given working with topics circulating around transportation industries.

    Rich Lee is a UW alum and PacTrans fellow from 2015-2016.

    “It was awesome to be a part of a program that provided so many opportunities and support for research while at the same time setting me up with relevant experience to enter the professional working world,” Lee said in an email.

    Lee previously worked as a Data Analyst for WSDOT’s Public Transportation Division. While there, he was responsible for developing Python scripts and tools for reporting and analysis, conducting demographic and transit accessibility analyses, and managing the division’s geographic information systems (GIS) datasets.

    Through WSDOT, Lee was able to assist on a research project funded by PacTrans focusing on shared mobility.

    “I guess I can’t escape PacTrans!” Lee said in an email.

    Most recently, Lee was offered and has accepted a position as a Transportation Analyst with King County Metro.

    Lee’s fellowship with us helped him in a position as a research assistant for the Texas A&M Transportation Institute in 2014. He received internship credits which he was able to put towards an M.S. degree in transportation engineering at UW.

    “Being able to gain work experience while earning my degree was critical to my professional development, and one of the main reasons I came to UW,” Lee said in an email. “It’s also nice to be plugged into the PacTrans/CEE network and the connections I established have helped in forming research partnerships between WSDOT and UW.”