Dr. Michael Hunter and Dr. Laurie Garrow, both Assistant Professors at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, teamed up with Georgia Tech's Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC) this year to bring transportation-related learning to area minority high school students. The professors conceptualized a two-week teaching module in a pre-engineering course using dynamic teaching techniques to introduce basic transportation concepts such as the "yellow dilemma zone" and corridor design.
Dr. Garrow comments that "as part of the two-week teaching module, students used SYNCHRO + SimTraffic, a traffic timing optimization and simulation package, to visualize how the timing of traffic signals in a corridor affects the ability of vehicles to travel through the corridor without encountering a red light. Dr. Hunter and I were quite surprised at how quickly the students picked up on how to use the software - and amused when some of the students commented that it was similar to playing a video game".
Shortly after, they learned of the Garrett A. Morgan Technology and Transportation Education Program - a grant program funded by the United States Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration to enhance exposure to the transportation field among women and minority students. With the help of CEISMC's Marion Usselman and CEE faculty Reggie DesRoches and Glenn Rix, who run similar outreach programs as part of a NEESR Grand Challenge project on reducing earthquake risks at ports, the group applied - and won - the award on behalf of Fulton County Schools.
Through the $100,000 grant, the small yet successful program will quadruple the number of students and teachers impacted. The program, entitled Building Engineering Achievement in Transportation (or "BEAT the Traffic"), will offer four summer camps for up to 200 area middle school and high school students; coordinate visits to NaviGAtor, the Georgia Department of Transportation's Transportation Control Center; fund four intern-fellowships for high school teachers; and sustain the in-school teaching module Dr. Hunter and Dr. Garrow designed originally.
CEISMC partners with other educational groups, schools, corporations, and opinion leaders throughout the state of Georgia to ensure that K-12 students in Georgia receive the best possible preparation in science, mathematics, and technology as they seek their place in the modern world.
"The School of Civil and Environmental Engineering has really become a model for departmental-based K-12 outreach," says Dr. Usselman. "Through the BEAT the Traffic program, and the outreach associated with the NEESR Grand Challenge project, Georgia Tech's civil and traffic engineers are helping to steer talented African American students into schools like Georgia Tech and MIT, with their sights set on careers in engineering. This participation by Georgia Tech faculty is absolutely critical for the success of CEISMC's programs, and for enlarging the pipeline of students into science and engineering".