Lochrane, who has two UCF engineering degrees and is on track to earn a Ph.D. this fall, showed President Obama a vehicle he customized with special sensors and how the technology could make highways less congested and safer to travel. Obama highlighted the technology during the first few minutes of his .

“It was really exciting,” Lochrane said. “He was very interested in our research.”

Lochrane is a research civil engineer at , where Obama spent a few hours testing a driving simulator and learning about connected vehicles.

Lochrane demonstrated the technology that supports one of the center’s active projects on Speed Harmonization, a method to reduce congestion where lanes merge and form bottlenecks — the greatest cause of congestion nationwide.

Mobile traffic sensors send real-time conditions at a congested location to a traffic management center. A computer uses this information to calculate optimal speeds for vehicles approaching the congestion and sends the speeds to connected vehicles on the road via wireless communications. The drivers receive the recommended speeds and can adjust accordingly. Or, in an automated vehicle, the vehicle could adjust to the recommended speed automatically.

Lochrane landed his job with the federal Department of Transportation research center in 2011 after earning several awards, internships and fellowships while studying transportation engineering at UCF. He speaks to his thesis advisor, Engineering Professor Haitham Al-Deek, every week to stay on track to get his Ph.D. this fall.

“Dr. Al-Deek is amazing,” said Lochrane, who earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 2008 and his master’s degree in civil engineering/transportation systems in 2009. “He spends a lot of extra time with me because I work here, now for almost four years. In fact, he got me interested in transportation engineering when I was an undergraduate. He pushes and keeps me on track.”

Lochrane is no stranger to working on projects with real-life applications. While earning his master’s degree, he worked on a project with the former Expressway Authority. The project looked at the impact electronic signs on the roadway had on drivers during times of congestion. He also was the lab manager at UCF’s . He even customized a vehicle with special sensors for his Ph.D. work that will help him understand drivers’ behavior and how new technology may enhance mobility and safety. That is the vehicle he showed Obama on Tuesday.

Lochrane is passionate about the impact research and people can make on transportation efficiency and safety. While student body vice president at UCF, he helped implement three initiatives related to transportation and student needs.  He helped bring Zimride, a rideshare for students, to UCF. He also helped create a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving. And he helped design and launch KnightLYNX, an evening bus service that offers an alternative mode of transportation to students in the late evenings and on weekends.

“I met Taylor when he was an undergraduate,” Al-Deek said. “I took him seriously because of his dedication and his passion. He was involved in so many things and not just involved, he took on leadership positions. I saw in his eyes a big future for him. This is not the last we will hear about him.”

Lochrane says UCF gives students plenty of opportunities, but they have to be motivated enough to go after them.

“UCF really does stand for opportunity,” he said. “If it weren’t for UCF, I wouldn’t be here. They give you the opportunity, you just have to grab it”

“We hope that by using social media, students will be constantly engaged in SGA and understand all that we can provide for them,” said Matthew Smith, SGA’s communications director.

SGA leaders say they’ll be using their own Twitter accounts to keep students up to date on what they’re working on and important events in SGA.

SGA is a representative body modeled after the U.S. government. Through its three branches: executive, legislative and judicial, SGA aims to represent student issues and concerns at all levels of university decision making.

In addition, SGA is constantly creating new services and initiatives aiming to make campus life better for all UCF knights.

Visit , and sign up to follow along on Facebook and .

Zimride uses Facebook and Google Maps to help UCF commuters seek out or offer rides. UCF is the first university in Florida and the largest in the nation to utilize the service.

“UCF is such a technologically and socially oriented campus,” said Taylor Lochrane, Student Government Association vice president. “Zimride is one way that we can make campus commuting work better for everyone.

“This partnership will also mark a significant step in improving campus sustainability practices and reducing emissions,” he added.

SGA and UCF Parking and Transportation Services are offering the service for free to the entire UCF community. About 200 people had already signed up by the official June 29 launch date.

Here’s how it works: Users can log in at with their university e-mail address, create profiles and view others’ profiles. They can share details of their commutes, including music preferences and driving styles. Drivers have the option of charging riders and posting the prices on their profiles.

Users can limit how much information ride seekers see. Security settings allow only the university community to sign up on the UCF-Zimride Web site.

Zimride directly links with users’ Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and other social media networks, enabling them to quickly contact riders or drivers. Users are able to rate other drivers and find out how much money they’re saving in gas and how much they’re reducing their own carbon footprint by carpooling.

The university also can calculate how much its community is reducing emissions through carpooling. The initiative is part of a larger effort to help UCF become climate neutral by 2050.

Zimride is the largest online social rideshare community in North America with more than 350,000 users. Other schools using the service include Stanford şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą, UCLA and the şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą of Michigan.

Organizers hope at least 10 percent of UCF’s population will sign up for Zimride within the first year.

While adding the new carpooling service, UCF continues to operate a free shuttle system that connects the campus with 17 nearby apartment complexes, Central Florida Research Park, Rosen College of Hospitality Management and the College of Medicine in Lake Nona.

With 34 buses, the shuttle system has served more than 2 million riders since it started in 2002.

“We think Zimride will work well here,” said Kris Singh, director of UCF Parking and Transportation Services. “Along with our successful shuttles, carpooling makes getting to and from campus more convenient, helps our students save money and has a sizeable impact on campus traffic and parking.”

Marlee Popluder, the chief elections commissioner, announced the winners on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. outside of the Student Union. Kilbride and Lochrane won a close election with just over 51 percent of the vote.

A total of 9,649 people voted in this year’s election, according to Popluder.

After the winners were announced, Kilbride was ecstatic; his face was red and he could barely speak.

“It feels phenomenal,” Kilbride said. “Goodness always prevails. My hard work has paid off.”

Kilbride, a senior in the finance program, and Lochrane, a graduate student pursuing his doctorate in civil engineering, will serve as president and vice president, respectively.

“I see the passion with Kilbride and Lochrane because of their involvement within the university,” Andrick Lewis, the current SGA vice president, said Tuesday.

As the chief of operations on SGA, Kilbride helped implement the new SGA Express Print Lab and the environmentally friendly lighting in the Student Union. He has said he intends to begin a carpool plan for UCF students, which he hopes will help with the congestion of vehicles on campus.

Kilbride and Lochrane’s other platform goals include strengthening green initiatives across campus, advocating for the creation of graduate housing, expanding services to Rosen and regional campuses, increasing the number of study spaces across campus, developing a post-graduation program and dedicated study days before finals.

Source: OrlandoSentinel.com, by Alyssa Metsky, UCF journalism student, UCF students elect Kilbride and Lochrane as new SGA president and vice president. Special to the Orlando Sentinel, February 24, 2010