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CONTACT: Jason Marton
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Area high school students experience environmental and civil engineering through A&M-Kingsville/Texas Transportation Institute summer program

KINGSVILLE (July 19, 2005) — Fifteen Coastal Bend high school students spent two weeks of their summer, July 6-15, getting an insider’s view of environmental and civil engineering careers.

The program is part of the Texas Summer Transportation Institute (TSTI), which addresses the transportation workforce needs, specifically the shortage of students pursuing careers in engineering and technology. TSTI is funded by a grant from the Federal Highway Administration, the Southwest University Transportation Center and a joint public-private partnership and the National Science Foundation through the Center for Research Excellence in Science and Technology at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. It is led by the vision and operational support of the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) and a number of Texas colleges, including Texas A&M-Kingsville.

According to Debbie Jasek of TTI, the students will tour a number of different sites in and around the area that provide insight into civil and environmental engineering, including the Port of Corpus Christi, the TransGuide traffic response system in San Antonio and examining light houses and bridges in Port Isabel. In addition, students will be hearing from educators, including A&M-Kingsville environmental and civil engineering faculty who will be leading them in engineering-related activities like using radar guns to understand the work of traffic engineers and testing the purity of water from their home towns. Also assisting are A&M-Kingsville students Jose (Jodie) Gonzalez, a sophomore, and junior Sarah Benavides, who is the reigning Miss TAMUK; both of them are former TSTI students.

“It gives these students a focus on the things they can do and the kinds of jobs they can have,” said Jasek.

A&M-Kingsville has had the TSTI program on its campus for four years. It’s a partnership that Jasek feels is a profitable one for the students.

“Studies have shown that if you find high school students interested in these fields – especially students from small towns – and expose them to college life through programs like this one, the chance of them going to college increases by 25 percent.”

The 15 high school students involved this year come from Tuloso-Midway, Calallen, Bishop, Robstown, Falfurrias and Kaufer in Riviera.

Jasek notes the impressive success rate of the TSTI, saying that 90 percent of its students have gone on to college and 100 percent have stayed in high school.

“There will be a shortage of civil engineers in the future,” said Jasek. TSTI is a great way for students to find out about careers in engineering.”

According to the institute director and A&M-Kingsville faculty member Dr. Hector Estrada, associate professor of civil engineering, there are six former TSTI students currently enrolled in civil engineering at Texas A&M-Kingsville and the summer program will see its first student graduate from A&M-Kingsville in May 2006. Other former TSTI students have enrolled in other areas at A&M-Kingsville.

“TSTI participants are often kids that don’t know what they want to do after high school,” said Estrada. “This one two-week event can change their life.”

The TSTI program is not the only connection between A&M-Kingsville and TTI. The two organizations became regional research partners last year, lending itself to a number of new collaborations and shared resources, including the extensive electronic library of TTI.

This page last updated 22 July, 2005