URP Alumni Spotlight: Cal Colpai

Cal Colpai -

Alumnus Cal Colpai discusses aspects of his career after graduating from MSU with a degree in Urban & Regional Planning.

Cal Colpai

Year Graduated

BSURP 2014

What are you doing now, personally and/or professionally?  

Professionally, I'm working at Ford Motor Company (for the past 3+ years) as the product owner of a new software solution in Ford's Mobility division called Safety Insights. While at first that may not sound very "planning-y," let me explain.

Safety Insights is a traffic safety analytics software product that combines crash data, connected vehicle data, and best practice methods from the Highway Safety Manual, ultimately with the goal of improving and streamlining decision making around traffic safety. We collaborate with many government agencies and transportation departments who are the actual users of Safety Insights.

My urban planning background is fundamentally crucial to being successful in this role. You might be surprised to hear Ford has a small (but growing) cohort of transportation and urban planners mixing it up with all the auto engineers!

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