University of Washington

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 five 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 provides education and workforce development activities in several different areas centered on four themes: enhancing student learning through an adaptable curriculum, increasing student experiences with real-world transportation issues, increasing the recruitment of students through expanded university outreach programs, and improving regional collaboration in education and workforce development. Each year PacTrans provides scholarships, fellowships, assistantships, and internships to students at our consortium universities. As part of our mission to bring talented professionals into the transportation field, PacTrans provides funding to students seeking transportation-related degrees. Students and faculty in the PacTrans universities are directly involved in transportation research and education, and have developed strong relationships with state transportation departments and other regional organizations. PacTrans' relationships and impact extends to the international transportation community, as well. Collaborations and education exchanges bring visitors from countries such as Denmark, Chin, Luxembourg, and Israel, and the Valle Scholarship and Scandinavian Exchange Programs foster cooperative international education among the University of Washington and Scandinavian institutions. REGION 10 STUDENT CONFERENCE Transportation students in Region 10 gather every year at the Region 10 Student Conference. PacTrans and the UW Student Chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), jointly sponsored the Region 10 Student Conference on October 17, 2015, at the University of Washington. In existence for over a decade, this tradition serves as an excellent venue for students to share research and develop professional connections. ANNUAL TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD (TRB) MEETING The Annual TRB meeting attracts approximately 12,000 transportation professionals from around the world. The meeting, held in January each year in Washington D.C., represents the most widely attended, and arguably most important, exchange of research information and technology sharing by transportation researchers and practitioners in the world. The meeting covers all transportation modes, with more than 3,000 program presentations and a variety of sessions addressing topics of interest to all attendees--elected officials, policy makers, practitioners, and researchers from government agencies, private industry, and academic institutions. Each year, PacTrans honors the center's Student of the Year by sponsoring full travel costs and awarding $1,000. The Student of the Year is nominated by transportation faculty for excellence in academic achievement and overall contributions to the transportation community. The Student of the Year is officially recognized at the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) banquet held in conjunction with the TRB meeting. PacTrans also sponsors other students to travel to and attend the conference who are the primary presenters/authors of papers accepted for presentation at the meeting. At this most recent, the 95th, annual meeting, more than 100 academic research papers and talks were presented by PacTrans graduate students as primary authors and we had the opportunity to sponsor over twenty students. 22 Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium

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