MARIETTA, Ga. | Apr 4, 2017

Kennesaw State University’s College of Computing and Software Engineering will soon offer a new scholarship for computing students, courtesy of Railserve, Inc., a company that provides rail switching services, railcar loading and track maintenance.

“Railserve has been an excellent partner with our College for many years,” said Jon Preston, interim dean. “This two-way partnership allows students to gain real-world development and team management skills and build their resumes, and it allows Railserve to run research and development on potential products and identify student talent to hire. Our faculty have also benefitted by working on funded research projects to help improve safety for workers at Railserve.”

For the past several years, Railserve has sponsored University capstone projects for graduating students, which provide strong experiential learning opportunities. Computing students have created a virtual training game for Railserve that helps to teach and test knowledge of skills necessary to improve safety in an industry where safety is paramount, and engineering students have created an innovative device for safely removing railroad spikes.

In an effort to implement programs and technology that reduce the risk of injury in the train and locomotive-related workplace, Railserve now sponsors multiple capstone projects in both the computing and engineering colleges at KSU.

“Railserve, Inc. has been privileged to have worked with both Southern Polytechnic State University, and its successor, Kennesaw State University, for a variety of projects,” said Tim Benjamin, president of Railserve, Inc. “We have been impressed with the creativity and quality of the work products delivered, and we desire to sustain this relationship with both the professors and students. Although the students have benefitted from their participation in these projects by having received practical experience and significant points for their resume, Railserve wanted to provide a more substantial token of our appreciation to the University through this donation.”

To further strengthen the educational partnership between Railserve and the College of Computing and Software Engineering, the endowed scholarship will assist full-time undergraduate students in the College, and will give award preference to upper-level students and new applicants each year. The new scholarship is the second endowed gift to the College since its founding in 2015.