2021 MURP Online Grad earns CUTC Neville A. Parker Award

Spring 2021 MURP Online Graduate, Joseph Dever, has won the 2022 Neville A. Parker Award from the Council of University Transportation Centers for his master’s research project. Dever’s study focused on the Miami Metrorail system to understand the historic context and capital investment the city put into supporting features.  

“Winning the Neville Parker award came as a surprise, and it feels so good to have research that took so much time recognized,” Dever said. “It also makes me appreciate the faculty and staff in DCP even more because they push us to produce quality work and have productive dialog.”  

The research project included a content analysis, suggested by committee chair Dr. Alakshendra, of newspaper articles from the 1970s, written to inform the public during Metrorail’s construction. This content analysis and historical understanding of the Metrorail combined with Dr. Steiner’s ability in the transportation field and knowledge of the city from Aaron DeMayo, of Future Vision Studio in Miami, helped set Dever toward success. 

The paper concluded that original project plans were not defined compared to project goals and has relevance to other megaprojects across the United States: Construction enterprises do not always navigate through projects with large public policy implications.