Behind every Iowa DOT research innovation is a real human being dedicated to helping ideas become reality. Here you can learn more about the Iowa DOT Research staff members and what makes them tick.
Name: Peggi Knight, Director of Research & Analytics Bureau
Number of years in this role: 8
What do you do in the Research & Analytics Bureau?
Iowa DOT’s Research and Analytics Sections each operate independently without a lot of overlap in their daily work. With 13 staff members, my role as director is to break down barriers and provide whatever is needed to make sure things keep rolling.
Have you always been drawn to research? What has your career path been like?
I hold a bachelor’s degree in survey engineering and a master’s in civil engineering, both from Iowa State University.
I started at Iowa DOT in 1988 as a transportation engineer; my first job was implementing GIS technology within the DOT. From there I became a manager in what is today called the Analytics Section, working with transportation data.
I then became Director of the Office of Public Transit, then Director of Transportation Data. I’ve been Director of the Research & Analytics Bureau since it was formed eight years ago.
What’s your favorite part of your work?
I enjoy helping people continuously improve their work so that they can enjoy their job even more. I like to help my staff identify a vision for where they’d like to see their work transformed in the future, and then work with them to develop a plan to get there.
What initiative on the horizon do you think will make a big impact for the Research & Analytics Bureau?
Our new Ideas website provides the potential to have everything in one place – which will allow us to track and manage projects and develop performance measures. It’s great because when everything is all in one place you can follow the project’s progress and see how it’s meeting its goals.
What do you like to do in your time off?
I enjoy reading and spending time with my husband and two adult children, one of whom plays soccer for Grand View University and the other is a chemical engineer and lives in Texas.
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