UH Cullen College faculty and students are making an impact and trying to serve the community we are all a part of. What concerned every one of them? The danger of driving in Houston. Now, even city officials are taking notice.
A group of biomedical engineering students sought out professor Ashutosh Agrawal to serve as the faculty advisor for a research project – one that was out of their wheelhouse. A nontraditional research project that was meant to improve life in Houston was exactly what Agrawal, professor in the Cullen College of Engineering, wanted to pursue. He had been curious whether traffic accidents went up since the lockdown was lifted and proposed they gather and analyze data about the most dangerous intersections in Houston.
The study uncovered several interesting trends. For one, several of the most vulnerable intersections – those most prone to accidents – happen to be in affluent neighborhoods. Another was that there was no single indicator that certain streets might be dangerous. Many of these intersections were, remarkably, close to schools.
When the work was done — the data mined and analyzed — and the 10 most dangerous intersections in Houston had been identified, the researchers submitted their findings to KPRC and the Houston Chronicle. Both organizations responded, and even more outlets sought them out for information soon after, such as KHOU 11, Houston Daily, Telemundo and NPR. City officials agreed to meet with Agrawal and his students.
This project, according to Agrawal, made the students sensitive to other issues in life, helped them avoid tunnel-vision in their research and encouraged a service-minded attitude in them. The project utilized their skills as engineering students to bring attention to an important issue for fellow Houstonians.
Going forward, Agrawal is very positive that this study will lead to a safer Houston. He said he was “humbled” by the city officials who invited the team to a meeting in late April to hear his students’ results. “It says great things about Houston and Houston’s administration that they want to work with us to improve the situation,” said Agrawal.
Image: Getty Images/iStock/SeanHannon
