Introducing high school students to ITS as a career option and building an understanding of this field into a STEM-focused curriculum is another critical step towards building this future workforce. Specific approaches are needed to introduce ITS into secondary school settings and to provide students with a bridge to post-secondary opportunities, and it is important to attract students from under-represented populations to study and work in ITS disciplines. As with most job sectors, the future of ITS is dependent upon the availability of a large and diverse pool of well-trained and qualified workers. Adopting new strategies of engagement, attraction, and support that focus on non-traditional, under-represented populations is a critical step towards building this future workforce. To get involved in this work or to receive notices of future programming contact: Dr. Stephanie Ivey, SE Transportation Workforce Center.
T-STEM Webinar Series
The NNTW hosted six Transportation STEM webinars focused on student career pathways that lead to employment as a transportation industry professional. Presented to students and faculty of K-12 institutions, these webinars offer academic and career-path perspective from diverse panels of professionals, faculty, and community college, technical school, and university students, with the goal of engaging the audience around the possibilities and opportunities that a career in the transportation sector can offer.
Panel Discussion of College and University students:
November 5th, 2021: Flyer and Recorded Session
Panel Discussion of Community College and Tech School students:
December 3rd, 2021: Flyer and Recorded Session
For 6-12 students and teachers:
- Visit Iowa DOT’s Traffic Management Center in Ankeny, IA.
January 28th, 2022: Flyer and Recorded Session
- Discussion with Dr. Mina Sartipi, Founding Director of the Center for Urban Informatics and Progress (CUIP) at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), and her focus on data-driven approaches to tackle real-world challenges in smart city applications in mobility, energy, and health.
February 25th, 2022: Flyer and Recorded Session
- Explore how safety service patrols operate and the direct impact they make on the lives of the traveling public. The session will also include discussion of how the safety service patrol both informs and responds to the Traffic Management Center (TMC) and the varied career paths available in this area. Join staff from the National Operations Center of Excellence and the Maryland Safety Service Patrol (SSP)
March 25th, 2022: Flyer and Recorded Session
- Journey to the Saxton Transportation Operations Laboratory (STOL) for a live demonstration of CAVe-in-a-box* (a portable transportation system) and get a virtual tour of the STOL facilities.
* CAVe-in-a-box is a hands-on learning experience to aid curriculum, and support instruction for community colleges and trade schools, facilitate benchmarking connected vehicle equipment, and support onboarding of ITS technicians. The CAVe-in-a-box infrastructure and onboard kits are equipped with all of the necessary transportation radios, networking equipment, traffic control devices, and software to train, deploy, and test a scaled intelligent transportation system in your classroom.
April 29th, 2022: Flyer and Recorded Session
For more information on this NNTW initiative or to contribute to this discussion, please contact:
Dr. Stephanie Ivey, Director of the Southeast Transportation Workforce Center (ssalyers@memphis.edu)
To join an ITS Academic Working Group focused on extending educational activities into secondary settings and building robust career pathways that lead to post-secondary study, job training, and/or employment, please contact:
Glenn McRae, Director of the Northeast Transportation Workforce Center (glenn.mcrae@uvm.edu)