|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Home » About Norwich » SGS Today »
A family enjoys a local bike trail together [©iStockphoto.com/Albert Cheng].
Engineering graduate paves way for new bike trail
by Daphne Larkin, staff
© Aug. 8, 2008 Norwich University Office of Communications
Thirty-thousand dollars and about 200 man-hours is the quantifiable value of one student's capstone project — a plan for a new hike and bike trail. But the long-term social value on the city of Killeen, Tx., will likely be immeasurable.
Capt. Erik Wright, 28, an army engineer officer and 2008 graduate of Norwich University School of Graduate Studies' (SGS) Master of Civil Engineering (MCE) program, used his capstone project as an opportunity to donate his time to Killeen.
Acting as project manager for a trail tentatively called the Robinett Hike and Bike Trail, which is to be part of a larger parks project, Wright produced a preliminary comprehensive plan — from landscape to funding issues — to get the project energized.
The city was Wright's adopted hometown when he was stationed at Fort Hood after returning from his second tour of duty in Iraq with the Army Corps of Engineers.
Wright completed three of his MCE seminars while serving in theater. He said the experience of being a student in a war zone "was a good exercise in time management skills, as far as making sure my mission got met for what I needed to do over there and (that I) had enough time (for schoolwork)."
Wright said he stayed a week ahead of his studies in case demands of his military work got him off track. The system worked, as several times he was called in the middle of the night to do a "protective design," which disrupted his sleeping pattern.
While still in Baghdad, in anticipation of returning to Fort Hood, Wright contacted the Killeen city engineer in September 2007 looking for a project to work on for his capstone, and got a response almost immediately.
The city had been cobbling together a plan for a Westside Park development beginning about four years ago with agreements from several landowners to dedicate land portions to the project, but they needed a champion to get the project moving.
The overall plan is to include recreation fields with the trail encircling them and secondary trails built off that to connect all five schools in the vicinity.
The city of Killeen is relatively young, both in its history and demographics. Until the creation of Fort Hood during World War II, the town had only several hundred residents. With over 52,000 soldiers and more than 70,000 family members, Fort Hood, which is located adjacent to the city, has directly impacted the growth of Killeen. The town is working towards keeping soldiers and their families permanently.
"We do abut Fort Hood, and pedestrian mobility is important," said City Engineer, John Nett. "We see soldiers and dependants out walking; it's an active and young community. Demographics show the median age of the city is upper-20s; we think (the park plan) is a good complement to the mission of the post."
|
|
| |
“This was the first time that … I got the management experience of being the only person working on a project.” |
|
|
The city has one hike and bike trail that circles the perimeter of a park on the north side of town and plans for trails in the northeast and south central areas. The Robinett trail will be located in the southwest part of the city, where currently there are no recreation fields.
Wright said he spent up to 20 hours a week for 10 weeks on the project, and that it was his first real opportunity to work on a project from start to finish.
"This was the first time that … I got the management experience of being the only person working on a project," said Wright, who is now stationed at Fort Knox where he is "standing up a unit … to respond to civilian and military contingencies."
Wright cited the importance of taking an idea from "cradle to grave" and cultivating support for it. He also said the project was unique because he was "faced with the full spectrum of what an engineer would do … (including acting as) business manager."
Wright also said the work was useful experience for potential work in the private sector.
"As a military engineer this gave me a lot of confidence as far as … how it would occur in mainstream America."
Upon completion, Wright presented the trail plan to the community service commission of the City Council which gave him the opportunity to both cultivate community interest in it and to practice his presentation before taking it to SGS Residency Week in June.
Successful with his presentation to the city, the hike and bike trail will be the lead element of the Westside Park, and the city will go into hard engineering design within a year, according to Nett.
Wright's work also has unintended benefits.
City engineers said Wright's work on researching combined private/public and in-kind donation funding opportunities for the trail is both useful for the trail project and transferable to future project ideas. In addition, some of Wright's research is applicable to the city's drainage capital improvement project.
"(We) were extremely impressed with Erik," Nett said. "He was task-oriented and driven. We wished we had consultants that were as focused as he."
The appreciation was reciprocal.
"I valued this project quite a bit for the knowledge it gave me in all the different functions," Wright said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Norwich University - School of Graduate Studies
|
Admissions: 1-800-460-5597
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
