Issue link: http://uwashington.uberflip.com/i/1047596
Education and Workforce Development Transportation education and workforce development are high priorities for the PacTrans consortium institutions as key components of the mission and plans for the center. Our seven universities educate the majority of transportation professions working in Region 10 and have won awards for innovative and effective engineering education efforts. PacTrans' activities in education and workforce development emphasize cultivating future leaders and professionals through education on the systems approach to safe and sustainable transportation solutions. PACTRANS SPONSORS ITE WESTERN DISTRICT STUDENT LEADERSHIP SUMMIT This past January, PacTrans had the opportunity to sponsor the fifth annual Western Leadership Summit, hosted by OSU's ITE student chapter, which took place in Corvallis, OR. Over 120 students from 26 different schools and several professionals from a variety of industry firms attended the three-day event to participate in panels and workshops focused on leadership, networking, and professional development. Many of the workshops were designed to aid members practically by reviewing their resumes and providing feedback regarding interview techniques. The event also provided a great opportunity for transportation students in ITE from different schools to connect with other students and further supported the growth of student chapters. During the summit, a group project based on how some of ITE's student leaders might go about developing their own chapters was introduced, with assistant dean at OSU, Scott Paja, touching on topics concerning motivational theory to encourage officers to reframe how student chapters market ITE to potential members. PACTRANS SENDS UW STUDENTS FOR NORWAY FOR TRANSPORTATION DESIGN CHALLENGE Last July, PacTrans and the UW's Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center sponsored a transportation design challenge in Norway, a competition for which a handful of UW and Norwegian students worked together to come up with innovative designs to support Norway's seafood industry. Haena Kim and Ruimin Ke, two research assistants and PhD students in the UW's Civil and Environmental Engineering program, had the opportunity to participate in the challenge and were both members of the winning team. During the trip, students visited various sites, including fish farms, at which they were exposed to how some of the seafood in Norway gets processed. Site visits served to give students a better understanding of the issues that occur in seafood production and transportation by allowing them to actually visualize the dilemma. Kim and Ke's team presented a design in which human-driven trucks were replaced with smaller, autonomous vehicles to transport fish to delivery points. One of Kim's ideas was to implement smart loading and unloading by utilizing a robot and a conveyor belt system. The team referred to this as the Smart BB system, BB standing for (conveyor) belt and battery. The team received a stipend of $5,000, which is meant to support the team in continuing their work on this project. UW STEEL BRIDGE GOES TO NATIONALS* This year, the PacTrans-sponsored UW Steel Bridge Team qualified for nationals for the first time in 20 years after competing against 16 other schools in the regional competition last April, where they took first in the construction speed category. The team placed 31st out of the 42 teams that competed, including teams from Canada, Mexico, and China, in the National Student Steel Bridge Competition, held this year at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign late last May. The team was also judged in six different engineering categories, earning 16th in construction speed, 20th in lightness, 21st in display, 33rd in stiffness, 24th in economy, and 32nd in efficiency. 22 Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium