Professional Student Training
Students involved in the UTCRS research projects are expected to perform at the highest levels of research competency. The UTCRS students work in multidisciplinary teams and support one another with the main goal of accomplishing the deliverables of the projects. The students are provided with faculty mentors that help guide them throughout their academic studies, and in the case of our undergraduate student assistants, they are also provided with graduate student mentors who assist the undergraduate students in transitioning into their research roles. For this reason, the student research assistants are required to maintain professional hands-on skill-sets that are essential for performing the day-to-day operations and activities of the UTCRS. Some of the duties and responsibilities of the UTCRS research assistants are:
- Enforcing service operation and safety protocols,
- Maintaining testing equipment and facilities,
- Disassembling and assembling railroad bearings and test rigs,
- Designing and fabricating research related testing fixtures and components,
- Machining, milling and welding,
- Performing bearing teardowns and inspections, and analyzing the findings
- Troubleshooting of mechanical systems,
- Instrumenting the test rigs, test fixtures, and railroad components,
- Programming the various Data Acquisition Systems (DAQs) available at the UTCRS, and
- Prepare engineering technical reports and professional presentations.
Research assistants receive continuous targeted professional trainings to assist them in performing their assigned duties and responsibilities. All UTCRS research assistants are expected to take part in the following professional trainings, which are offered every semester:
- Data Acquisition Systems - provided by Dr. Constantine Tarawneh and Dr. Stephen Crown.
- Sensors for Asset Condition Monitoring - provided by Dr. Constantine Tarawneh, Dr. Stephen Crown, and Dr. Heinrich Foltz.
- Railroad Bearing Teardown and Inspection - provided by Dr. Constantine Tarawneh.
- Material Characterization and Analysis - provided by Dr. Robert Jones.
- Finite Elements Analysis - provided by Dr. Arturo Fuentes.
Through the abovementioned trainings, the UTCRS students gain invaluable experience, expertise, and hands-on skill-sets that will help them professionally throughout their engineering careers regardless of where their future job may take them.