Axel Hellman (MPL, Price) was selected to be the 2016 METRANS Student of the Year. The Student of the Year distinction honors outstanding students from each University Transportation Center around the country. Axel will travel to the TRB Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. in January 2017 to receive the award.

Hellman worked for METRANS as a Student Assistant during the Spring 2016 and Fall 2016 semesters.  Prior to that, he was involved with the center as a volunteer for special events and lectures.  His role as a Student Assistant involved working with researchers to copy edit and make final revisions to their research papers before publication.  Hellman coordinated with research center staff to proofread all outgoing research products before submission to journals and funding agencies.

Aside from grammar and word usage, Axel has interests in studying innovation in the transit sector.  Axel learned about the details of transit planning with an internship at New Jersey Transit, and then by serving as a student worker for USC Transportation’s transit division.  His interest in studying innovation in mass transit led him to his current role as a transportation planner at OurBus, a mass transit technology startup based in New York. His other professional interests include transit operations, public policy, and bicycle and pedestrian planning.