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CE Club Update - May 2015

Janet Yeow, Ismarie Torres, and Lina Sabeva from AECOM spoke to the CE Club about transportation engineering and challenged the students with a brief team design activity. Janet began the sessions by defining vertical and horizontal alignment and asking students to provide examples of vertical and horizontal curves they see on a daily basis on the roads and highways around their school and homes. The students learned about the superelevations that transportation engineers use on roadways and railways to make curves safe for travelers based on the size and speed limit of the roads or railroads. Using the example of a rollercoaster or a racetrack with banked curves helped students fully grasp this concept. The engineers then challenged the students to break out their pencils and calculators to work out a superelevation problem for train curves of differing radii. Ismarie then explained how transportation engineers calculate stopping sight distance on roadways using geometry and algebra. Once again, the students were asked to work out a problem, this time involving the stopping sight distance on a vertical curve on a road with a specific speed limit. Lina then explained why even flat, straight roads will be sloped to help with stormwater drainage. Lina also explained how engineers must balance design needs with cost restraints to create the most efficient design possible while still maintaining the safety of the people using the road or railway.

Finally, the students got the chance to design a balloon-propelled shuttle to transport pennies along a suspension line. The students came up with a variety of designs for the shuttle including baskets, sleeves, and envelopes connected to the balloon vehicle. Students had to deal with balancing the available thrust from the balloon with the weight of the pennies. Some teams attempted to transport too many pennies in their shuttle, resulting in little to no movement along the suspension line. Other teams had trouble keeping their shuttle attached to the balloon leading to the catastrophic loss of penny lives from the shuttle. Additional pictures from the AECOM presentations can be found here.

Sean Merrell, the ASCE Dallas Branch Past President (2013), visited Woodrow Wilson High School and gave a presentation on traffic engineering to Mr. Brandon Carver’s four civil engineering classes on the topic of traffic engineering. Sean talked about his path to becoming a traffic engineer from serving as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot, earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Texas A&M University, and working for BGE as well as the City of Frisco. Sean talked to the students about the importance of attending an ABET accredited university, gaining meaningful work experience, studying for and passing the professional engineering licensure exam, and completing continuing education as well as additional certifications. Sean was the perfect example of these final two steps within the traffic engineering industry since he holds PTOE and RAS certifications in addition to being a registered PE.

Sean then asked the students to consider traffic signs and intersections that are all around us. Why is a stop sign a red octagon? Why is a railroad sign round? What’s the advantage of a roundabout? He explained that every single element of traffic engineering has a specific purpose and meaning. As practical examples, Sean showed the students traffic signal studies he had completed as well as plan drawings of roadway illumination projects and intersection design projects he has worked on throughout his career. He also showed the students a couple of the computer programs that traffic engineers use to work out signal timing and predict traffic patterns. The students especially enjoyed getting the chance to check out some of the equipment that is inside the traffic signal cabinets at major intersections.