The Pennsylvania Department
of Transportation (PennDOT) today announced that a team of students from the
Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy in Erie has been selected as the
PennDOT District 1 winner for its fifth Innovations Challenge.
Mentored by James
Fleming, team members include Zoe Barron, Isabella Zewes, and Pasya Kashindi.
Now in its fifth year,
the PennDOT Innovations Challenge invites high school students in grades 9-12
to use their problem-solving, creative and strategic-thinking abilities to
solve real-world transportation challenges. The Innovations Challenge aims to not
only help students explore actual transportation challenges that PennDOT is
facing, but also open their minds to the very real possibility of working for
PennDOT after graduation.
Since last fall,
students have been working hard to solve this year’s challenge. Taking
Pennsylvania’s diverse demographics into consideration, this year’s Innovations
Challenge asked students to develop a comprehensive and cost-effective public
engagement strategy, beyond the current public engagement procedures (outlined
in detail in Publication
295) that uses innovative technologies and tools that PennDOT can
implement to more effectively engage and connect with all age groups during the
transportation planning and project development process.
“Public engagement is
vital to PennDOT’s transportation planning and project development efforts,”
said PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian. “However, it can be challenging to
bridge technology and generational gaps to ensure everyone is engaged and
involved as we plan for transportation improvements.”
The winning regional
team’s innovation was a “One Stop Shop” app for customers to access PennDOT
services and information. Some features in the proposed app include a live chat
with a PennDOT representative, a calendar with upcoming public meetings or events,
and a log to record personal vehicle maintenance information.
“We were impressed
with all of the ideas submitted by the northwest region students to enhance
public engagement statewide,” said PennDOT District 1 Executive Brian McNulty,
P.E. “Their unique perspective on our current processes is invaluable and
allows us to understand how we can better meet the needs of our customers.”
Regional winners will
now move on to compete for the state championship with other schools through
virtual meetings with PennDOT executives based in Harrisburg.
For this year’s
challenge, the Associated Pennsylvania
Constructors (APC) and the American Council of Engineering Companies of PA (ACEC/PA) are providing a combined total award of $4,000
to the statewide winning team.
For complete Innovations Challenge details, visit http://www.PennDOT.pa.gov/innovation and click on Innovations Challenge.
Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Crawford,
Erie, Forest, Mercer, Venango, and Warren counties at www.PennDOT.pa.gov/District1.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Saxon Daugherty, 814-678-7095
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