M-CASTL is pleased to announce that Jonathon Vivoda has been named the 2011 M-CASTL Student of the Year. As winner of the award, Mr. Vivoda will receive $1,000 and the cost of attendance at the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. At TRB, Mr. Vivoda will attend the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) awards banquet and will receive a certificate from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Jonathon Vivoda is currently enrolled in the Health Behavior and Health Education (HBHE) department's PhD program at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Mr. Vivoda worked at UMTRI between 1998 and 2011, and for M-CASTL since its inception. While working for the Center, Mr. Vivoda served as the Program Coordinator, and had primary responsibility for M-CASTL’s educational mission, as well as contributing to the technology transfer, and research missions of the Center. Mr. Vivoda holds a master of public health degree in HBHE, and a bachelor degree in psychology, both from the University of Michigan. His research interests include age related driving issues, motor vehicle occupant restraint system use, driver distraction, the effects of ITS technology on driver behavior, and understanding motor vehicle crash trends. He is an expert in organizing and managing field data collection for occupant protection use surveys, and has developed methods of using hand-held electronic devices for the collection of many types of field data. He has also developed procedures for observing seat belt use by motorists traveling at night, utilizing specialized night vision equipment. Mr. Vivoda is currently serving as a Graduate Student Instructor for a course entitled Research Methods in Psychology.