“The Road to Success” originally appeared in the 2016 edition of Arising, the Research Journal of Savannah State University.
Story by Amy Pine. Photography by Hon Low.
Savannah State University students will soon have the chance to become experts on the city’s impressive infrastructure — and transportation systems around the world — thanks to a new interdisciplinary grant program focused on transportation.
The Targeted Infusion Project in Interdisciplinary Transportation Studies (TIP-ITS), funded by a $399,548 grant from the National Science Foundation’s HBCU-UP program, will enable SSU to develop an interdisciplinary undergraduate certificate program to educate students in technical, logistical, policy, research and commerce-related issues of the transportation industry. The program is targeted to students who are traditionally underrepresented in STEM disciplines, though the certificate will be available to both STEM and non-STEM majors.
“It’s a three school effort between the College of Business Administration (COBA), the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS), and the College of Sciences and Technology (COST),” says Suman Niranjan, Ph.D., an associate professor of management in COBA and the grant program’s co-principal investigator.
“Transportation draws things from civil engineering, geographic information systems, which falls under urban planning, and global logistics and international business, which talks about supply chain,” says Niranjan, explaining that the certificate program will be available to SSU students as well as local industry professionals.
The SSU team in charge of implementing TIP-ITS includes Niranjan and Principal Investigator and COST Dean Jonathan Lambright, Ph.D., along with faculty members Mehran Mazari, Ph.D., assistant professor of civil engineering technology in COST; Bryan Knakiewicz, Ph.D., assistant professor of civil engineering technology in COST; and Daniel Piatkowski, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science in CLASS. Shilpa Prasad serves as the grant’s program specialist.
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| The Targeted Infusion Project in Interdisciplinary Transportation Studies team includes, from left to right, Suman Nirajan, Ph.S., Shilpa Prasad, Bryan Knakiewicz, Ph.D., Daniel Piatkowski, Ph.D., and Mehran Mazari, Ph.D. |
Many students have already expressed interest in the transportation studies certificate, among them Sarah Dillard, a senior civil engineering technology major from Atlanta. Dillard says the new certificate program will enhance her education and help guide her career choices.
“The transportation studies certificate program will enhance my chances to secure roles that hold influential decisions on the regulations of the roadways and increase my knowledge of how I want to use my studies in civil engineering and technology.” Dillard says.
Feon Green, a senior global logistics and international business major from Savannah, believes that transportation is one of the key competencies that drives globalization. “I am fascinated with the supply chain. The different strategies on how to control the upstream and downstream flow of goods and/or services from the point of origin to end result being the customer is a vital part of our everyday lives,” Green says. “Transportation plays a large part in the supply chain. Without the different modes of transportation it will be impossible for us to survive. Transportation helps make the world more efficient, and I just want to be a small part of that industry and participate in globalization.”
In addition to the certificate program, the three-year TIP-ITS grant includes a research component for undergraduates. Each year, six to 10 students from across disciplines will be provided with stipends to conduct research. The students will work closely with local partners, including the Chatham Area Transit Authority, Georgia Ports Authority, Georgia Department of Transportation and IKEA Distribution Center, to solve industry-specific problems.
Area high school students interested in transportation will also benefit from the TIP-ITS grant through the program’s high school bridge program. For 20 weeks throughout the spring and summer, students in grades 9-12 will have an opportunity to attend specialized interdisciplinary classes on the SSU campus to learn about transportation systems. The program is designed to improve student recruitment and retention in STEM disciplines and introduce students to transportation studies.
The Transportation Studies Certificate program is expected to launch in Fall 2016. Lambright, Niranjan and the team hope that the program’s success will eventually lead to the development of a major program in the discipline.
