Transportation: Outreach
Transportation Summer Youth Explorations
The Michigan Tech Summer Youth Programs (SYP) introduces middle and high school students to careers and allows them to develop new skills through laboratory, classroom and field experiences. An exploration is an intensive week-long look at a particular field or area of interest and is designed to introduce students to a world of opportunity. Students spend the week(s) investigating there area of interest through classroom activities, hands-on laboratory exercises, field trips and discussions with invited speakers, instructors and other students. Three explorations are offered in the area of transportation.
National Summer Transportation Institute
Sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Michigan Tech hosts Michigan’s only National Summer Transportation Institute (NSTI). The objective of the NSTI is to provide awareness to middle and high school students on careers in transportation and to encourage students to consider transportation related courses in their higher education pursuits.
Michigan Tech’s NSTI is a highly competitive, scholarship based, two-week residential program that allows students to explore today's transportation industry. Students participate in discussions, hands-on design competitions, and trips to study local and regional transportation hotspots. In addition, students have opportunities throughout the week to interact with industry role models and a diverse group of peers from all over the country and world.
Rail and Intermodal Transportation
The Rail and Intermodal Transportation is a collaborative effort between Michigan Tech’s Rail Transportation Program (RTP) and the Transportation and Logistics Management Program at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. The program provides partial scholarships to high school students and is designed to create awareness and stimulate interest in the area of rail and intermodal transportation.
Students explore topics such as freight and passenger rail transportation, track train dynamics, equipment and motive power, the role of intermodal transportation in supply chains and rail operations and track structure. The weeklong exploration is divided between the two campuses and field visits to rail yards and museums in both states are a highlight of the program.
Bridges, Dams and Skyscrapers: Building Big
Students have the opportunity to explore the engineering behind some of the largest construction projects in the world-bridges, dams, highways, airports, tunnels, buildings, and more. How do civil engineers design and build skyscrapers? What does it take to design a bridge strong enough to hold the weight of traffic? How can engineers design a dam that will hold water and not break? Answer these questions through making (and breaking!) concrete, testing the strength of timber beams, designing bridges, building models, and taking field trips to examine the longest lift bridge in the USA, a steel dam, and other structures designed by civil engineers.
Construction Career Days
Michigan Tech's University Transportation Center for Materials in Sustainable Transportation
Infrastructure (UTC-MiSTI) and the Center for Technology and Training (CTT) hosted Michigan’s
Construction Career Days event for the fourth consecutive year.
The Construction Industry is facing a severe shortage of skilled workers. The objective of the National Construction Career Days program is to attract youth to construction careers to ensure a future generation of diverse and skilled professionals to meet this need. The program supports a variety of construction fields including residential, commercial and transportation.
Staff from the CTT served as on site volunteers providing logistical assistance. Michigan Tech's UTC-MiSTI provides funding to offset the transportation costs for the forty plus schools bringing more than 2400 middle and high school students to the event. Undergraduate and graduate students and staff from the UTC-MiSTI, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan Tech Transportation Institute's Rail Transportation Program and Admissions interacted with students, teachers and counselors at Michigan Tech's informational exhibit.
Women in Engineering
Women in Engineering (WIE) is a weeklong investigation of engineering careers in areas such as mechanical, computer, environmental, electrical, chemical, biomedical, civil, geological, materials, and other related disciplines such as mathematics, engineering technology, technical writing and computer science.
This program is a highly competitive scholarship program which provides a chance for traditionally underrepresented high school students in grades 9-11 the opportunity to investigate careers in engineering and science.
Sessions are lead by inspirational practicing engineers from industry and government and by educators and university faculty. In addition, students have opportunities throughout the week to interact with industry role models and a diverse group of peers from all over the country and world.
Other Activities
Additional information on transportation related activities can be found at www.mtti.mtu.edu