CN gives $150,000 to Southern University to Establish Institute for Transportation Studies

BATON ROUGE-A leading North American freight transportation company has awarded Southern University $150,000 to fund a project for transportation studies at the historically black university. CN presented university officials with the contribution Wednesday during a ceremony on the Baton Rouge campus.
The two have partnered to establish the Southern University Institute for Transportation Studies (SUITS) and five CN fellowships. SUITS is a program designed to teach students how to address transportation concerns.
Southern University will work with state and federal agencies to develop mentoring relationships and provide transportation-related summer employment to students.
Gordon T. Trafton, CN’s Vice-President of Midwest and Gulf Divisions, said, “CN saw the creation of the SUITS program as an excellent opportunity to introduce engineering students to the transportation field, particularly in areas such as railroad and construction engineering, safety, and project management. As a long-time supporter of transportation education, we are very proud to be associated with Southern University.”
Dr. Patrick Carriere, Chair of the Southern University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, said demands for effective and efficient means of transporting people and goods
mandate that there be a constant supply of transportation professionals.
“Our goal is to interest students in pursuing careers in transportation,” said Dr. Carriere. ” We plan to accomplish this through coursework that covers all modes of transportation as well as safety, planning, and management.”
The SUITS curriculum is designed to utilize existing courses from various university programs, while developing new courses with transportation emphasis such as railway engineering, project management, foundation engineering, and construction management.
CN is the only railroad that crosses the continent east-west and north-south, serving ports on the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts, including New Orleans, while linking customers to all three North American Free Trade Agreement nations.
For more information about the SUITS program, contact Dr. Patrick Carriere at (225) 771-5870.