Latin American and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions

Conference Track:  Emerging Technologies

Keywords:         Dynamic Control, Dynamic Assignment, Traffic Engineering

Contact Title::    Dr.

Contact First name: Didier

Contact Last name:  Valdes

University:       University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez

Web:             

Position:         Associate Professor

Country:          USA

Email:            dvaldes@uprm.edu

Fax:              97870 265-3390

Paper Title:

The Summer Transportation Institute (STI) at the University of Puerto Rico: A first step of high school Puerto Ricans in the University

Abstract:

The Civil Infrastructure Research Center (CIRC) of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM) has managed the Summer Transportation Institute at the University of Puerto Rico during last three summer sessions.  The objective of this program is to expose a group of high school students to a variety of academic experiences designed to motivate them toward various professions mainly related to the transportation industry.  High school students soon to enter their Junior Year are eligible to participate on our Summer Transportation Institute in Puerto Rico.  The activities are very diverse and include two trips to San Juan, the capital city of Puerto Rico, each time with an overnight stay.  Besides these and other day-long field trips, our institute provided class sessions in transportation related topics, as well as participatory working sessions for the students to develop their projects.  The participants also learned to write technical reports and prepare presentations, and about opportunities to study and work in the areas related to transportation.  A number of sports activities, competitions, and motivational activities complemented the academic activities.

Our institute has been a complete success due in part to the enthusiastic support we received from National Summer Transportation Institute Resource Center, as well as from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez administration at all levels. We also received support from the state and federal transportation agencies.

Mailing Address: 

University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez

Department of Civil Engineering and Surveying

P.O. Box 9041

Mayaguez, PR 00681

Phone: 

(787) 265-3815 ext. 2179

Authors: 

Didier M. Valdés-Díaz (P)

dvaldes@uprm.edu

Antonio A. González-Quevedo

antonio@ce.uprm.edu 

Freya M. Toledo-Feria

ftoledo@uprm.edu 

University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez