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A group of South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã high school students were provided unique learning opportunities in transportation and engineering on South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University's campus earlier this summer.

The National Summer Transportation Institute, organized by SDSU's Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering, introduced students to different aspects of transportation engineering, including planning, materials and transportation modes. The campers, who received scholarships for the weeklong residential camp, participated in many hands-on learning activities.

"This year’s National Summer Transportation Institute, a two-week-long residential summer camp at SDSU, hosted students interested in engineering and transportation," said Rouzbeh Ghabchi, SDSU associate professor and camp director. "The NSTI workshops offered a unique opportunity for students to gain firsthand experience in solving the problems that transportation engineers face in real life."

One day of the camp was dedicated to bridge design concepts. Students learned about different types of bridges used by engineers and then designed and constructed their own model bridges in a bridge building contest, which were tested for maximum capacity by the students.

Later, the students visited an engineering design firm, where they learned about traffic engineering and construction techniques. They were even afforded the opportunity to assemble, program, and control an LED array, similar to those used in dynamic message aigns to display various information in real-time, such as speed limits, lane closures, travel times, and accident alerts.

Other hands-on workshops for the students revolved around topics including aviation, asphalt and concrete mix design challenges, and robotics and electronics, among others.

"The mission of institute is to raise awareness among middle and high school students about careers in transportation and to inspire them to pursue transportation-related courses of study in their higher education pursuits," Ghabchi added.

The National Summer Transportation Institute was sponsored by the South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã Department of Transportation.