CTECH Team Shares Transportation Knowledge with K-12 Students at the USF Engineering Expo
2019 USF Engineering Expo Event
The USF Engineering Expo is an annual, two-day event that seeks to educate K-12 students on the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in their lives. To familiarize K-12 students with research at the nexus of transportation, environment, and community health, the USF team from the Center for Transportation, Environment, and Community Health (CTECH) set up a fun and educational activity booth at the Expo February 15-16, 2019.
Prior to the event, USF faculty researchers created a series of questions intended to share information with participants about the relationships between transportation and environment/community health (e.g., How does transportation affect water quality?).
Eight USF graduate students served as volunteers. They asked K-12 students questions and subsequently explained the answers. Each time a student answered a question correctly, he/she had a chance to spin the wheel for a variety of prizes like candy, pens, notepads, notebooks, and headsets. About 570 K-12 students actively engaged. In addition to raising awareness for CTECH, young minds were introduced to how transportation, while often providing mobility and freedom, impacts the environment and health.
SCHUMER, GILLIBRAND ANNOUNCE OVER $1.4 MILLION IN FED FUNDING FOR CORNELL UNIVERSITY TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH CENTER
Press release from the office of the U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, February 14, 2019
SENATORS SAY GRANT WILL ALLOW CORNELL TO CONTINUE LEADING INNOVATIVE PROGRAM FOCUSED ON PRESERVING PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT WHILE IMPROVING TRANSPORTATION
The Cornell-Led Transportation Environment, And Community Health Center Is A Consortium Of Universities That Focus On Developing Environmentally Sound Transportation Methods
Schumer, Gillibrand: Modern, Innovative Solutions Desperately Needed To Address Nation’s Transportation-Linked Public Health And Environmental Challenges
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced $1,400,100 in U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) funding for Cornell University. The funding was allocated through the DOT’s University Transportation Center (UTC) program. Cornell will use the funding to continue their leadership of a consortium of universities that research and develop new transportation innovations to limit adverse impacts on public health and the environment. Schumer and Gillibrand said that the funding will give Cornell’s world-class researchers the opportunity to meet national challenges related to transportation systems, the environment, and public health. The Transportation, Environment, and Community Health (CTECH) Center was created in partnership with the University of California-Davis, University of South Florida, and the University of Texas at El Paso. The center is run out of Cornell’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and works to advance research projects and educational opportunities at all partner schools focused on addressing the critical issues facing transportation systems.
“Finding the innovative solutions that address our nation’s need for environmentally-sound transportation infrastructure is key to our economic success,” said Senator Schumer. “This grant will enable Cornell University and its new transportation center to continue producing game-changing research on the technology that could preserve our environment and protect our communities from harmful pollutants. Modernizing America’s infrastructure is a linchpin in rebuilding our middle class, and I am proud that New York is taking the lead in developing modern, efficient sustainable transportation technologies.”
“This grant is great news for Cornell University and CTECH,” said Senator Gillibrand. “This funding is an investment in the future of transportation and will help lead to the technological advances necessary to preserve our environment and advance solutions to some of the country’s most difficult transportation problems. I will always fight in the Senate to ensure that our universities have the resources they need to continue creating new and sustainable solutions to improve our communities.”
“The focus is on urban infrastructure such as transportation, which, while greatly contributing to our mobility and freedom, comes at a cost to the environment and health. Through social-technical systems innovations toward a paradigm shift, the Center is working to break the norm for integrated multisector city and transportation systems planning, design, finance, and management to one that proactively prioritizes health, sustainability, livability outcomes, and reduces health inequalities,” said CTECH Director and Cornell Professor H. Oliver Gao.
The UTC Program advances state-of-the-art transportation research and technology, and develops the next generation of transportation professionals. The Congressionally-mandated program has been in place since 1987 to help address our nation’s ever-growing need for the safe, efficient, and environmentally-sound movement of people and goods. This grant is one of 35 five-year grants that will be awarded to lead consortia under the UTC program. The program was reauthorized by Sec. 6016 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which Schumer and Gillibrand championed in the Senate.
Link: Schumer Press Release
Schumer, Gillibrand announce $1.4 million for Cornell for transportation research
From The Ithaca Journal,
U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand on Thursday announced $1.4 million in U.S. Department of Transportation funding for Cornell University to continue leading the Transportation, Environment, and Community Health Center.
“This grant will enable Cornell University and its new transportation center to continue producing game-changing research on the technology that could preserve our environment and protect our communities from harmful pollutants,” Schumer said. “Modernizing America’s infrastructure is a linchpin in rebuilding our middle class, and I am proud that New York is taking the lead in developing modern, efficient, sustainable transportation technologies.”
The CTECH Center was created in partnership with the University of California-Davis, University of South Florida and the University of Texas at El Paso. Cornell’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering hosts the consortium and works to advance research focused on addressing the critical issues facing transportation infrastructure.
Link: Continue reading
Upcoming Webinar – March 6th
March 6, 2019, 1 p.m.-2 p.m. EST
Multimodal Planning for SIS
Florida’s Strategic Intermodal System (SIS) represents the state’s largest and most significant transportation facilities including airports, spaceports, seaports, rail corridors, passenger terminals, transit, waterways, and highways. The SIS serves as the primary avenue for implementing Florida’s long-range transportation vision and SIS facilities receive the highest priority for transportation capacity improvements. Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Systems Implementation Office Manager Huiwei Shen, SIS Planning Manager Chris Edmonston, and SIS Administrator Jennifer King will share how the SIS plans for multimodal facilities. This webinar will be held in Zoom.
Links: