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Gift From Hitachi Rail STS Benefits Rail Transportation Engineering Program

To help prepare the next generation of rail signaling engineers and operators gain experience in safely managing passenger and freight rail traffic, Pittsburgh-based Hitachi Rail STS USA partnered with the Rail Transportation Engineering (RTE) program at Penn State Altoona to donate a MicroLok Wayside Control System, equipment used to perform vital and nonvital management of signaling systems.

Representatives from Hitachi visited the college’s RTE labs on Sept. 13, 2019, to meet with students and faculty and discuss the gift and the industry’s need for trained workers.

“Our gift to Penn State Altoona symbolizes both our corporate social responsibility and a shared determination to add more talent to this industry,” says Douglas Peel, head of wayside engineering at Hitachi Rail STS USA. “We value the work Penn State Altoona is doing to grow this program and provide students with real-world tools and experiences along the way.”

MicroLok is a complete railway signaling system that includes training modules. The system will be used in upper-level courses on railroad communications and signals.

More than 144,000 miles of track supports the economy of the United States, with the freight industry investing more than $25 billion each year to improve the rail network. Freight, passenger, and metro rail operators will continue to add advanced technology to the rail networks they operate and assets they maintain, creating extensive opportunities for rail and signaling engineers in the workforce. Penn State Altoona’s RTE program, the only bachelor of science degree program of its kind in the nation, prepares students with the in-depth engineering and mathematics education to meet the demands of the industry.

With the addition of the Hitachi Rail STS MicroLok, students will have direct access to marketplace systems for in-depth training and real-world application of train control signaling systems, processes, and procedures.

This gift from Hitachi Rail STS will advance “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” a focused campaign that seeks to elevate Penn State’s position as a leading public university in a world defined by rapid change and global connections. With the support of alumni and friends, “A Greater Penn State” seeks to fulfill the three key imperatives of a 21st century public university: keeping the doors to higher education open to hard-working students regardless of financial well-being; creating transformative experiences that go beyond the classroom; and impacting the world by fueling discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. To learn more about “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” visit greaterpennstate.psu.edu.

Members of Penn State Altoona’s RTE faculty give Hitachi Rail STS representatives a tour of the college’s RTE labs.

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