Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Lincoln
Summer Program Orients Young Professionals to Transportation Industry;
PA Department of Transportation Official Speaks to Students at
Noon on July 30
Lincoln
University, PA —Lincoln University will conclude its
Summer Transportation Institute (STI) on Friday, July 30, 2004,
with a keynote address from Bob Garrett, chief of research for
the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), starting
at noon in the Marshall Living Learning Center on the campus in
southern Chester County.
Lincoln’s
Summer Transportation Institute is a four-week program that began
on July 5 and officially ends on July 30. The program introduces
eighth, ninth and tenth graders in Pennsylvania to the transportation
industry. The educational initiative is a partnership between
the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Division Office in Pennsylvania,
the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), private
corporations, and Lincoln University. Lincoln's STI offers participants
early exposure to the University, the wide array of careers in
transportation, and the opportunity to engage in activities that
are educational, socially beneficial and recreational. Lincoln’s
STI also provides tuition and campus boarding to participating
students.
According
to Dr. Ganga P. Ramdas, professor of Business and Economics, and
the STI Project Director, the program offers students who have
a strong interest in science, mathematics and technology an opportunity
to learn about the many aspects of the transportation industry.
The Institute
also provides information on the interaction between major methods
of transportation, transportation safety and the environmental
impact of transportation systems. Guest speakers from the transportation
industry participate in the ongoing 2004 program and students
take a number of field trips to get a first-hand view of the transportation
industry.
These trips
have included visits and tours of the Railroad Museum, in Harrisburg,
PA, the PennDOT construction site in King of Prussia, PA, Philadelphia
Airport, Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, Philadelphia Naval
Base, Sunoco Gas and Pipelines in Reading, PA, SEPTA (Urban mass
transit authority in the Philadelphia region), and the U.S. Motor
Cycle Manufacturing Plant.
Lincoln is
one of 42 universities across the country that participates in
the National Summer Transportation Institute (NSTI) pilot that
partners state transportation agencies, the USDOT and the FHWA
to help diversify the transportation workforce. To date, more
than 3,200 students have participated in the NSTI since the program
began at South Carolina State University in 1993.
