Dive Brief:
- Students from the University of Texas at Austin, Prairie View A&M University and the University of Texas - Arlington captured prizes in an architectural case competition involving the state's plans to develop a bullet train from Dallas to Houston.
- The student groups captured prizes for concepts of urban, sustainable and architectural design for the proposed station sites connected to the bullet train route.
- The competition was presented by the development company working on the train project.
Dive Insight:
This particular project presents opportunities for colleges and universities to be a part of civic development, from students, to faculty to administrative community development projects. Like projects with the University of Washington and MIT, institutions can thrive in public relations and revenue-creating opportunities by way of working to improve city and town infrastructure.
For other institutions, similar opportunities can exist in public health, business and startup culture, or even historic preservation to promote town-gown relations and industrial growth in key sectors. The University of the District of Columbia and its engineering efforts to improve local transportation are another example of partnership benefiting community, which in the future, could lead to philanthropic or workforce development opportunities.