Carlson Honored with Regents Fellow Service Award
The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents has presented Paul Carlson, research engineer and head of TTI‘s Operations and Design Division, with the Regents Fellow Service Award. The award is presented annually “to recognize and honor service, extension and research professionals who have provided exemplary professional service to society that has created large and lasting benefits to Texas and beyond.”
Carlson said he is humbled by the award and that his time at the Institute is what led to his receiving it. “TTI provides a unique environment that supports and encourages innovation and collaboration in an entrepreneurial setting,” he says. “You are free to make the most of it and set your own bar.” Carlson leads TTI‘s Visibility Research Laboratory, where he tests new retroreflectivity materials for traffic signs and pavement markings to create a safer environment for people driving at night.
Briaud Gives Three Lectures in Russia
Jean-Louis Briaud — manager of TTI‘s Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Program and Buchanan Chair Professor at Texas A&M University — continued his international travel last fall with three lectures in St. Petersburg, Russia, at the G. V. Plekhanov State Mining Institute and Technical University (also known as the Mining University of Russia), one of the oldest mining schools in Europe. “The Mining University is known worldwide for its emphasis on mining research,” Briaud says, “so it was a great honor to continue my relationship with the students and the university president.”
Research Specialist Debbie Jasek Retires
After nearly a quarter century with the Institute, Research Specialist Debbie Jasek retired Jan. 31, 2014. Jasek headed up TTI‘s Summer Transportation Institute and other programs aimed at inspiring secondary-school students to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers. “There is no one who could fill Debbie Jasek’s shoes,” TTI Director of External Initiatives Melissa Tooley said at Jasek’s retirement party. “What she did for years was to spend every single summer showing other people’s children the opportunities available to them.” Some 14,000 kids attended Jasek’s summer programs over the years, and many of them credit those programs with their eventual careers and success in the STEM fields.
Crawford Selected for Inaugural LeadershipITE Class
Jason Crawford, regional manager of TTI‘s North Texas Region based in Arlington, Texas, has been selected as a member of the LeadershipITE Class of 2014, the program’s inaugural class. LeadershipITE is a new program from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) designed “to identify, develop, and engage leaders to ensure that ITE and its members are positioned to engage and shape the future of transportation.”
Crawford says he is honored to have been selected as a member of the inaugural LeadershipITE class. “I am very much looking forward to working with my class peers and learning more about leadership styles and applications over the course of this program,” he notes.
