2009 Symposium Call for Entries
Win $1000 for your school, plus a trip to California to attend the MTI Awards Banquet

How can we entice young people to think about careers in transportation? Already, the industry is losing employees as Baby Boomers retire. That means the career opportunities are growing rapidly. Even if students are interested in other careers, they will rely on transportation to get around. Do they have ideas for improved cars? Renewable fuel sources? More attractive mass transit systems?

Young minds are quite imaginative because they believe anything is possible. So they will go straight for the most creative solutions. That’s exactly what the Mineta Transportation Institute is looking for – kids who shoot for the stars, perhaps sparking ideas that have practical application.

That’s the whole purpose of the Garrett Morgan Sustainable Transportation for the 21^st Century Program – to harness kids’ imaginations and get them interested in math and science, perhaps leading to careers in transportation. Our program is a complementary element of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Garrett A. Morgan Technology and Transportation Futures Program.

Here’s how it works. Each year members of the MTI Board of Trustees sponsor middle school classes for a sustainable transportation study unit. The curriculum is developed by faculty at San José State University’s College of Education, and it includes a class or team project. The sponsoring agency contacts the school or teacher, arranges delivery of the workbooks, and provides the videoconference facility. Then the students and teachers create a sustainable transportation project based on what they’ve learned. The project is presented at a national videoconference competition featuring the U.S. Transportation Secretary and other transportation leaders.

One presentation is chosen as the winner, and a student, parent, and teacher from that school receive an expense-paid trip to San Jose, Calif. for MTI’s annual scholarship awards banquet. The school receives a plaque and a $1000 check. The teachers of all classes participating in the competition will receive a $50 gift certificate for project supplies.

The videoconference is usually scheduled for March each year, based on the Secretary of Transportation’s schedule and the timing of spring break for the schools. The awards banquet is held at the end of June.