Civil Engineering grad student receives Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship
Graduate students at the University of Manitoba are making a name for themselves by tackling some critical issues with the financial support of Canada’s top research award.
Civil Engineering Grad student, Craig Milligan, is among the trailblazing recipients of this year’s Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS).
Milligan had his nomination reviewed by multi-disciplinary peer-review committees and a board of Canadian and international experts. He was chosen based on his exceptional leadership skills and high scholarly achievement, boasting a GPA of well over 4.0 in his undergraduate and graduate studies. Among numerous distinctions and awards, Milligan has won a gold medal in civil engineering.
Milligan is developing tools to evaluate and manage transportation systems in the vast Northern Prairie region of Canada. He will measure the performance of northern roads by gathering data on issues such as infrastructure, condition, safety levels, system reliability, user costs, environmental impacts, and socioeconomic outcomes. This research will be conducted while working with the University of Manitoba Transport Group, an internationally recognized research team. His findings will help develop the tools needed by engineers and planners when making future investment decisions related to transportation systems in Canada’s North.
Milligan has served as captain of a provincial champion volleyball team, has been involved in creating and leading non-profit day camps for underprivileged children, and has served as a tutor during his academic career. He is bilingual in French and English, and is also currently studying Chinese.
Milligan will receive $150,000 over the next three years, or $50,000 per year, to fund his research. Administered through Canada’s three research granting agencies (the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada), the Vanier CGS is considered the Canadian equivalent of the U.K.’s Rhodes Scholarship.
The Vanier CGS program aims to attract and retain world-class doctoral students by supporting their skills and talents. Their ideas have been seen to spark the creation of new products and services that support Canada’s economic competitiveness, sustain the environment and improve our quality of life.