Transportation Career Day

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Wheelchairs and “Supershoes” – Centennial Place Elementary School, Atlanta GA, Spring and Fall 2014
Engineering Expo – FIU Campus, February 21, 2014
Hands-on Traffic Simulation Workshop for High School Students – UF Campus, January 26, 2014
Exploring Careers in Transportation Engineering – UF Campus, October 12, 2013
Engineering Day at the Cade Museum – Gainesville FL, July 9, 2013
Engineering Gala – FIU Campus, February 2013

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_tabs][vc_tab title=”UF Career Day” tab_id=”22723310-0408-5″][vc_column_text]Engineering Day at the Cade Museum was held July 9th, 2013

The University of Florida Transportation Institute has teamed with the Cade Museum of Gainesville to present Engineering Day. Students learned about careers in engineering and  worked cooperatively to construct a roller coaster with one 360 degree loop or spiral, one hill and one 45-90 degree turn. As they discovered the relationship between gravity, mass, potential and kinetic energy, students experienced challenges to construct a bridge using straws and paperclips. Students applied knowledge of weight, torque, force and compression. Students also built a mousetrap-powered vehicle that is powered by the energy of a wound up mousetrap’s string.


Exploring Careers in Transportation Engineering was held on October 12, 2013 on the University of Florida campus

Spend the day controlling a real live traffic signal! Experience the excitement of simulating traffic flow! Interacting with faculty, undergraduate and graduate students from the college of engineering transportation program in lab settings and fun games will help you learn about the variety of careers available in the field of transportation. Teams end the activities by competing for top honors playing “Transportation Jeopardy.”

Lunch was provided and University of Florida students were available to answer questions and help guide career decisions.

 

Agenda

10:00 am -10:15 am Registration/Sign-in
10:15 am – 10:30 am Dr. Kondyli – Welcome,  What is Transportation Engineering
10:30 am – 11:00 am University of Florida Student Panel, What you need to Know
11:00 am – 11:10 am Break
11:10 am – 11:30 am Signals Lab Tour
11:30 am – 12:30 pm Provided Lunch – small group discussions facilitated by UF students.
12:30 pm–2:30 pm Hands-on Traffic Simulation Exercise in Computer Lab
2:30 pm– 2:40 pm Break
2:40 pm –-3:30 pm Jeopardy Game

[/vc_column_text][/vc_tab][vc_tab title=”FIU Career Day” tab_id=”4490f178-6e21-5″][vc_column_text]FIU Engineering Expo 2014 was hosted at the FIU Engineering Center on February 21, 2014

Over 1,400 students from Miami-Dade County elementary, middle and high schools attended the annual FIU Engineering Expo. The students participated in “engineering immersion” activities to learn about different engineering fields in a fun and interactive way.  The FIU ITE student chapter helped organize the event and served as tour guides.

(High school students listening to Vice President Shahadat Iqbal’s presentation in IITS lab)

As part of the traditional Engineering Expo, students hosted a special series of presentations and demonstrations in the Integrated Intelligent Transportation Systems (IITS) Lab and the Driving Simulation Lab. Members presented interesting transportation engineering applications, including 3D traffic simulation shows, configuration of a traffic management system and a test drive of our driver simulator.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tab][vc_tab title=”Georgia Tech Career Day” tab_id=”1489009364830-2-10″][vc_column_text]Wheelchairs and “Supershoes” – Introducing Transportation Engineering to Middle School Students

Georgia Tech researchers and students are working with 5th and 6th graders at a local public elementary school to expose students to transportation engineering data collection, analysis, research design, critical thinking and planning.

About Centennial Place Academy

Demographics:

  • 86% African American, 5% Caucasian, 3% Hispanic, 2% Asian, 4% Multi Racial
  • 71% of students are eligible for the free/reduced lunch program.
  • Student population comes from the Centennial Place neighborhood and includes two shelters.
  • First conversion charter in the Atlanta Public School System.

Opening Session

The partnership kicked off in summer 2014 with a large event that reached over 80 fifth grade students and involved 10 graduate students and researchers. The students were given an exciting transportation presentation followed by hands-on activities, including mode choice mapping and modeling, accessibility challenges using wheelchairs, and paper and electronic travel diary activities.

(Georgia Tech students and researchers at opening session presentation with Centennial fifth graders)


Hands-On Research Sessions

The follow-up sessions occurred in fall 2014 and were conducted with 20 sixth graders who chose to participate after the opening session. The students were split into groups and had graduate students assigned to mentor them in the following modules:

  • Module 1 – Mode Choice: Discussed transportation mode choices and useed class as a sample to map and analyze a full dataset.
  • Module 2- Accessibility: Students explored accessibility through mobility activities as wheelchair users.
  • Module 3- Traffic Engineering: Introduced the technique of vehicle counting; demonstrate its application in traffic engineering.
  • Module 4- Roadway Environments: Introduced students to perceived complexity of roadway environments for all users.
(Students took turns using wheelchairs to test the accessibility of labs, libraries and classrooms at their school)

[/vc_column_text][/vc_tab][/vc_tabs][/vc_column][/vc_row]