The Tren Urbano Upr/Mit professional development program

A joint multidisciplinary professional development program has been developed which uses the Tren Urbano project as a laboratory for students from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The Tren Urbano project consists of the planning, design, construction and future operation of the first phase of an urban heavy-rail transit system in the metropolitan area of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Each year a number of students (ranging from 10-15) from engineering, architecture, and urban planning from each university are selected to participate in the program for one to two years. The students, along with faculty involved in developing and directing this program, participate in two ten-day workshops, one at MIT and one at the UPR. In these workshops, experts in urban transportation systems, with experience in the development of recent rail extensions in Boston and in San Juan´s new rail system, discuss the different aspects of the development of these types of major infrastructure projects. Each student defines a research topic related to the Tren Urbano project and conducts research under the supervision of faculty from UPR or MIT. The program, now in its sixth year, has already served about sixty students from UPR and is expected to run until the year 2002, when the first phase of the Tren Urbano is scheduled to begin full operation.