Two groups of Texas high school students will attend intensive courses emphasizing transportation as a viable career option at the 1999 Summer Transportation Institutes this month. The program will be held at Texas Southern University in Houston July 5-16 and at Paul Quinn College in Dallas July 19-30.
Each two-week institute, hosted by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), is conducted in partnership with Texas A&M University, Texas Southern University and Paul Quinn College. Courses will introduce the students to all facets of the transportation industry, including aviation, rail, mass transit, design and management of transportation systems, construction skills, research and technology.
The program will offer students time with researchers and instructors on all three campuses, including field trips to transportation facilities. A tour of TTI at Texas A&M University will emphasize design, operations and research in land transportation, including a crash test at TTI’s Riverside Campus. The Dallas institute students will visit the Burlington Northern Sante Fe facilities to learn about the rail industry, and a tour of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will introduce students to careers in military aviation.
Beverly Kuhn, TTI’s Director for Professional Capacity Building says the program will help TTI foster and enhance the development of knowledge, skills and abilities of existing and future transportation professionals.
“Only by reaching students in K-12, can we hope to encourage them to pursue transportation as a career and prevent losing many bright minds to other high-tech professions,” Kuhn said. “Early exposure to transportation is critical if we are to have an adequate workforce in the 21st century.”
The summer program complements another U.S. Department of Transportation national educational initiative, the Garrett A. Morgan Technology and Transportation Futures Program, which was designed to improve students’ math, science and technological skills, strengthen links between the transportation sector and community colleges, junior colleges, and technical schools, and expand transportation programs at undergraduate and graduate institutions.
The institutes will receive assistance from the FHWA, local chapters of the National Urban League, the Texas Department of Transportation, private sector companies and other federal agencies.
TTI is the largest university-based transportation research agency in the U.S. Patented TTI innovations have helped to save lives, time and money for motorists throughout the nation.