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Senior Design Group
Back Row, L to R: Ammar Abdulla, Dr. James Mahar, Rawan Aljark, Blaine Newsom, Eid Alshari, Dr. Darren Leavitt.Front Row L to R: Cory Scoffield, Jesse Weatherly, Saleh Alqattan, Dan Harelson, Khalifa Bohay.

Community benefits from ITD collaboration with college

ITD and the Idaho Farm Bureau have been working with Idaho State University on an intersection project this fall that will benefit the partners of the collaborative effort. Better yet, the biggest winner is the public, who will reap the safety rewards for years to come.

Jesse Weatherly, an intern for the Idaho Farm Bureau and Cory Scoffield, an intern for ITD under Dan Harelson, are both students at ISU. Weatherly is in the unmanned aerial vehicle program and Scoffield in the civil engineering technology/geomatics program.

"Jesse and Cory are processing data from an intersection for my Senior design group in the Engineering department," Harelson explained. "They are collecting survey control data so that my senior design group can use the information to design potential improvements to the intersection." Intersection map shown at left, with contours.

Harelson has advised engineering students from ISU for several years, and his students thought they might be able to improve traffic flow at the intersection of Garrett Way and North Main in Pocatello.

Dan became acquainted with Jesse Weatherly and the Idaho Farm Bureau through their volunteer work with the Portneuf Greenway Foundation when Jesse shot some drone footage promoting the Greenway.

ITD's Blaine Newsom out of D5 is working with the two to get the data in a format usable in the ITD environment, and also learning how to better use available new technology.

"It is a bit complicated, but it illustrates a good community partnership where everybody learns from each other," Harelson said.

Weatherly agrees.

"This partnership/internship has been a wonderful opportunity for me to build confidence and experience for a life career,' he explained. I want to thank Dan Davids, Adam Waldron, Dan Harelson, Rory Erchul, Cory Scoffield, Blaine Newsom, Darren Leavitt, and Charles McNeel for taking the time to help with the education, expertise, and opportunity behind the project. It will help shape the industry moving forward, and help all parties learn for valuable research."

"It's been great working on both sides of this partnership — being an intern at ITD and a student at ISU," added Scoffield. "It's been fun learning the skills need for a project like this in class, and then to apply them at work."