Pathway to the Industry: An ASPIRE Alumni’s Experience at UTA
In addition to giving student researchers a hands-on chance to learn skills, ASPIRE serves as a launching pad for graduates into industry. Many students go on to internships or further graduate studies, and for Transportation Engineering Research Assistant Mahyar Vahedi Saheli, the experience he gained from his internship at UTA was invaluable.
“ASPIRE was where I got familiar with EVs and the charging process of electric vehicles and battery electric buses,” Saheli said. “ASPIRE and UTA have a close partnership together, so I believe working on an ASPIRE funded project helped me a lot in getting that job.
Saheli was an innovative mobility solutions intern with Utah Transit Authority and worked on two main projects. The first focused on addressing feedback about charging reliability of battery electric buses which led to a multifaceted troubleshooting process.
“With all the data together, we were trying to troubleshoot and rectify all the issues from the charging process and improve the charging reliability of the UTA battery electric bus fleets,” Saheli explained. “Every week we were focused on a specific charger and their issues. (The) next week they got us reports on how they were trying to fix those issues.”
The second project focused on finding cleaner conventional diesel alternatives for regular buses. Saheli was part of the team that worked on designing a pilot project to replace conventional fuels with renewable diesel for around 25 buses in the UTA bus fleet.
“We ended up selecting a renewable diesel that can be up to 90% cleaner than the conventional diesels,” Saheli said. “I worked on the feasibility analysis of this project, the cost estimates, talking to vendors and the risk assessment process.”
From ASPIRE, Saheli learned the importance of presenting research in an understandable way. For those outside of the technical field, engineering research can often come across as complicated and being able to create common dialog between researchers and industry members is a skill Saheli doesn’t take for granted.
“ASPIRE is a research center, and research is always a couple steps ahead of the industry, so the language in the research center is different than the language in the industry or in the public sector,” Saheli explained. “One of the first things I learned was I should be able to easily, and in a more understandable way, present everything I do.”
Working at ASPIRE opened the door for Saheli to do an internship with UTA and allowed him to expand his knowledge, meet new people and grow towards future opportunities.
“You get to see a lot of real-world things happening around you in the industry you’re a part of,” Saheli said. “It’s always a great opportunity to know more people, expand your networks, improve your soft skills and no matter where you’re doing (an) internship, it’s always going to be a great experience.”
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Contact:
Kat Webb
Brand & Strategic Communication Manager, ASPIRE Foundation
Writer:
Lucy Larson
Communications Specialist, ASPIRE Foundation
ABOUT ASPIRE
ASPIRE, a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center headquartered at Utah State University, leads groundbreaking research and development at the transportation-grid edge to accelerate electrification. With over 400 global collaborators, ASPIRE focuses on creating seamless, affordable electrified transportation systems, accessible for all vehicle classes, along with the public infrastructure needed to support them. By reducing costs, improving air quality, and fostering economic growth through job creation and workforce training, ASPIRE’s work spans engineering, social science, policy, and business. Partnering with top universities, industry leaders, and community groups, ASPIRE is driving the future of advanced transportation-grid systems. Learn more at aspire.usu.edu