Henry Murdaugh: Let me welcome you to the 91st Transportation Research Board Annual
Meeting and the 19th Annual Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Research Showcase.
Good morning.
My name is Henry C. Murdaugh and I am Program Manager for Universities and Grants Programs
which has the responsibility of managing the Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship.
This is where we highlight the innovative research of our second and third year PHD
students.
We consider these students to be the crème de la crème, cream of the crop.
These are our top researchers and these students are very close to being workforce ready.
The type of research that you conduct and is being conducted by Eisenhower recipients
throughout this great nation is critical to the current transportation industry and the
transportation industry of the future.
Dr. Charles Wright: You’re going to hear from the best and the brightest minds.
As you notice on the podium, we have five of those.
They’re going to talk about the cutting-edge research that is going on in the transportation
industry.
Henry Murdaugh: There’s no other discipline or career path more critical or important
than the transportation industry.
Everyone, everyone depends on it.
You can’t get away from it.
Bernetta Collins: It is indeed my pleasure to introduce the Federal Highway Administrator,
Mr. Victor Mendez.
Victor Mendez: We do face tremendous challenges as a nation.
At the Federal Highway Administration we have tried to provide that jolt to the transportation
community through a program that we launched about two years ago and we now branded it
as “Everyday Counts.”
We need to maintain our infrastructure, enhance safety, protect the environment, and put people
back to work.
Henry Murdaugh: The Secretary shall establish and implement a transportation research fellowship
program for the purpose of attracting qualified students to the field of transportation.
The program should be known as The Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship
Program.
Henry Murdaugh: The Eisenhower Program continues to set the standard for workforce development
in action.
Victor Mendez: So my main goal with “Everyday Counts” beyond advancing specific strategies
and technologies is to create a culture of innovation in our industry.
All of us at some point need to step back and think about the bigger impact that transportation
has on the lives of each and every one of us.
Henry Murdaugh: Mr. Wall has the distinction of being the number one ranked Dwight Eisenhower
recipient this year.
Mike Burk: One of the things we do know about the program is that it does work.
The data tells us that about 85 percent of people that go through the Eisenhower Program
stay in transportation and we’re really proud of that.
Thomas Wall: The warming of the climate system is unequivocal.
Mike Burk: The industry is very hungry for innovation and creativity.
Bernetta Collins: Many of you have very good ideas and we want those ideas, we need those
ideas in transportation.
Audience Participant: I think that this program is a tool to hire the best and brightest minds
in the world in the area of transportation.
The Eisenhower Program is such a critical component of the research and education part
of transportation.
Bernetta Collins: You know, you have tremendous opportunities available to you and not just
what other people are doing, things that you can do, things that you can bring to the table.
Thomas Wall: So, why do we care?
What are the real impacts of climate change to transportation infrastructure?
Victor Mendez: Transportation is about how we impact people’s lives.
Thomas Wall: The environment for which we designed structures over the past 50 years
will not necessarily be the environment for which we design infrastructure over the next
50 years.
Dr. Sylvan Jolibois: So, it opened my mind tremendously to the importance of transportation.
Henry Murdaugh: I think we have phenomenal students and it’s our job to introduce them
to the career opportunities and to help them navigate the transportation education pipeline
and into the workforce.