The winners will vie for the 3rd International Prize, to be awarded in Puerto Rico on 9 July
The doctoral thesis titled “Some statistical and mathematical tools for modelling traffic”, by Dr Aida Calviño Martínez (University of Cantabria School of Civil Engineering), was the winner of the 11th Abertis Prize for Research into Transport Infrastructure Management, awarded by the UPC-Abertis Chair. This prize is awarded for the best doctoral thesis presented by different Spanish universities.
In the best graduate dissertation, final degree project or master’s dissertation category, the prize was awarded jointly to Borja Moya Gómez, for his research titled “Heuristic procedures for estimating OD-matrices from gaugings” and to Manuel Bullejos González, for his work titled “Temporary adjustment of OD-matrices based on an approximation of the gradient”. Dr. Josep Maria Torné Santos was also named as runner-up this year, for his doctoral thesis titled “Active traffic management in metropolitan freeways. Modeling and assessing dynamic speed limit strategies”. All three winners are from the Barcelona School of Civil Engineering, specialising in Paths, Canals and Harbours.
The awards ceremony, which was held today at the Barcelona School of Civil Engineering, was attended by the Minister of Territory and Sustainability of the Catalan Government, Santi Vila, accompanied by the president of Abertis, Salvador Alemany and the rector of the BarcelonaTech (UPC), Enric Fossas. The ceremony included an emotional tribute to the families of two Abertis Group directors who recently passed away, Andrea Luminari and Oriol Sitjà.
This competition is one of the lead-up events to the 3rd International Abertis Chair Prize, which will be awarded in Puerto Rico on 9 July. The winners of the international edition will be selected from the pool comprising the winning projects awarded by BarcelonaTech (UPC) and those which the Chaire Abertis – École des Ponts ParisTech – IFSTTAR (The French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks) will award on 17 June in Paris, also in the dissertation category.
The Abertis Prize is worth 10,000 euros in the thesis category and 4,000 euros in the dissertation category.
International Abertis Chair Network
The Abertis Chair network has an increasing international presence, which is proof of the company’s commitment to the academic world, contributing to research into the impact of major works on areas, thus improving the quality of life for their inhabitants.
The International Abertis Chair Network is present in Spain, France, Puerto Rico, Chile and Brazil, in partnership with the following universities: The BarcelonaTech (Barcelona, Spain); IFSTTAR, École des Ponts–ParisTech, Fondation des Ponts, (Paris, France); the University of Puerto Rico (San Juan, Puerto Rico); the University of Chile (Santiago, Chile); and the University of São Paulo (São Paulo, Brazil).
The UPC-Abertis Chair, created in 2003 by Abertis and the BarcelonaTech, is directed by Professor Francesc Robusté. The chair’s aim is to foster research and training in the field of transport infrastructure management.