Student Honored by U.S. Department of Transportation
Peyton Ratto received the award in January.
Cal Poly graduate student Peyton Ratto was honored with the Student of the Year award by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Santa Clarita, California, resident was among 34 students nationwide to receive the title.
The award was presented in January by U.S. DOT’s University Transportation Centers Program (which awards grants to universities across the nation as it advances transportation research and technology and develops the next generation of transportation professionals) and the Council of University Transportation Centers. The council promotes university research, education, workforce development and technology transfer as essential to the nation’s transportation system.
Each Outstanding Student of the Year honoree is selected based on accomplishments such as technical merit and research, academic performance, professionalism and leadership.
Ratto, who is pursuing dual masters’ degrees in civil engineering and city and regional planning, was nominated by civil engineering Professor Anurag Pande, who recognized her exemplary work on the book Pande was writing. Ratto added a section to help non-engineering students succeed in their math, physics and statistics prerequisite courses.
“When I started the master’s program, Dr. Pande shared with me his textbook that would be developed as part of the ongoing U.S. Department of Education Open Education Resource project,” Ratto explained. “I enthusiastically jumped on board and co-authored the text that helps non-engineers get through the wall of prerequisites.”