TTI Earns Recognition from Women’s Transportation Seminar
TTI has been named Employer of the Year by the Heart of Texas Chapter of the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS). The organization also honored Cinde Weatherby as its Woman of the Year. Weatherby directs TTI’s Strategic Transportation Solutions Center.
The chapter presents its Employer of the Year award annually to a business or agency that has enhanced the transportation industry through its commitment to excellence and quality, established an outstanding record of affirmative action in hiring and promoting women at all employment levels, supported continuing education of its employees, and encouraged women students to enter the transportation field.
WTS notes that TTI’s workforce is 47 percent female and that, over the past decade, female employment has jumped by 86 percent in executive and managerial positions, by 100 percent in research administration, and by 160 percent in senior research positions. The organization cites TTI’s expansive professional development offerings, also noting that TTI’s female staff members serve on the boards of numerous national organizations.
“We are honored that the WTS Heart of Texas Chapter has recognized TTI as its Employer of the Year, and we’re also delighted to share the spotlight with Cinde Weatherby and her Woman of the Year award,” said TTI Director Dennis Christiansen. “We applaud the organization’s work, and we remain committed to the common goals and purpose that we share with them.”
Roop Recognized at Patent Awards Luncheon
TTI Assistant Agency Director Steve Roop was honored by the Texas A&M Office of Technology Commercialization for three patents he received as part of the Freight Shuttle System (FSS), an innovative approach to moving freight. The annual Patent and Innovation Awards Luncheon was held April 26 at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center at the George Bush Presidential Library.
Roop’s 2012 patents represent various elements of the FSS, including the guideway and the rotating loading dock. Designed to reduce energy consumption, congestion and pollution while delivering cargo more securely and faster, the FSS could be used at border crossings or shipping ports. The patent for the overall FSS concept was issued in 2010.
TTI Pavement Testing Technology Voted SHRP2 Top-Ranked Implementation Product
A recent survey conducted by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) of products developed under the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) ranked a TTI project highest for implementation. The AASHTO survey ranks SHRP2 products in the current three-year Implementation Plan, as well as new products coming from SHRP2 research.
Led by TTI Senior Research Engineer Tom Scullion and Associate Research Scientist Stephen Sebesta, the SHRP2 project involves two nondestructive techniques for detecting defect areas in new asphalt overlays during construction. “The problem that we are trying to solve is one that everybody has: cold- and low-density spots in new overlays, which lead to premature pavement failures,” says Scullion.
Turnbull Participates in National Forum on Women in Transportation
TTI Executive Associate Director Katie Turnbull participated in a Special Forum on Women in Transportation sponsored by the White House Office of Public Engagement and the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on April 4, 2013. Turnbull was one of approximately 60 women leaders from industry, public agencies, professional organizations, universities and other groups gathering at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with top-ranking personnel from the White House and the USDOT to discuss increasing opportunities for women in transportation.
“It was a privilege to participate in the forum and to interact with the dynamic group of women,” notes Turnbull. “We identified action steps to move the objectives forward [and] two individual action steps to pursue over the next six months.”
The forum results will assist with the USDOT’s participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Women in Transportation initiative. “I look forward to assisting with the action steps,” says Turnbull.
Photo credit: U.S. DOT
Briaud Receives Kazakhstan’s Aytaliev Honorable Medal
TTI Research Engineer Jean-Louis Briaud was honored March 4 during the opening ceremony of the Geo-institute Congress in San Diego, Calif. Askar Zhussupbekov, president of the Kazakhstan Geotechnical Society, presented Briaud with that country’s highest honor — the Aytaliev Honorable Medal of Kazakhstan — bestowed upon a geotechnical engineer who demonstrates exceptional progress in soil mechanics, geotechnical engineering and underground construction.
TDS Program Named “Best Practice” in Highway Safety Report
The Teens in the Driver Seat (TDS) Program has been highlighted as a best practice in the Texas Department of Transportation’s 2012 Texas Highway Safety Annual Report. According to the report, “TDS is saving lives because young people are driving the program. Every element, every facet, and every refinement of TDS are influenced by young people. With active program elements for junior high school students all the way through college, the breadth of youth reached by the program is also unprecedented and unmatched.”
