THE DAILY COLLEGIAN Staff members receive Guggenheim Fellowship By Kaitlyn Knopp COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER With the odds of getting the award a slim 180 out of 3,000. Katherine Freeman said she tried not to get her hopes up for a Guggenheim Fellowship Award. "My thoughts before were nerv ous. I was hopeful, but pretty anx ious about it," said Freeman, a professor of geosciences and the associate department head of graduate programs. Freeman's anxieties were eased, though, when she and Penn State art professor Helen O'Leary were chosen to receive a 2010-11 Guggenheim Fellowship. "My reaction was I was thrilled and grateful," Freeman said. "My mother actually found out by read ing my name in The New York Summit discusses transportation By Will Schultz FOR THE COLLEGIAN Penn State professors and stu dents joined industry profession als this week to discuss how to cul tivate a new generation of profes sionals to deal with an over-bur dened transportation infrastruc ture. On Wednesday and Thursday students mingled with govern ment workers and professionals from the private sector in a small conference room at the Atherton Hotel. 125 S. Atherton St. Martin Pietrucha, Director of the Larson Transportation Institute, said the Transportation Workforce Development Summit was designed to bring people from all different areas of the trans portation industry together to con sider how to best bring new indi viduals into the field. " Traditionally we have civil engineers working in this field." • Y lir laS4fr - • ..- --•• ._Th4.—__.- I 11 112 E. Beans A.:3,-1406 Friday, 4/23 Mk Mania B,lopm Ted and the Hifi's 10:30-C1ose El Cams Li Drafts Datil Michnsitt 1/2 price everything 7-9 pm irw kitchen Open Late the ALLEN STREET / M -. .\ Times, and she was quite happy about that The competitive nature of the award has much to do with the grants it awards. as all recipients are expected to use the money to further their research or edu cation, said Richard Hatter, Freeman director of devel- opment and public relations at the Guggenheim Foundation. How much money Freeman and O'Leary will receive will be based on the budget of the project to which they will apply the money. - The grant will help me take a sabbatical next year for a full year. Pietrucha said. 'We're beginning to look for people with a non-tradi tional education." The transportation industry of the future, Pietrucha said, will require people well-versed in finance and information technolo *'. The keynote speaker, Professor Joseph Sussman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology', was not able to attend, but spoke to the room through a speakerphone and had his presentation slides advanced for him. Sussman spoke of growing com plexity in transportation and how future professionals will have to possess working knowledge of the basic system. the technical aspects of the system and the var ious institutions that affect it. He said future professionals will also need to be experts in a gener al knowledge category and will need to have a "deep understand- COWeg . l aVl . .... . . , Moe - A lio , . . i ' . i t 7, • • ''',;:':,';',-; thl \..,,,,.r. , ... :. ,. :•.j's v. --,..... • ...,-,.....,,,,.f „„, The past four years flew by. From moving in to moving out, the past four years have been filled with fun, friends, and finding together into one amazing experience, your Penn State journey. Collegian Front Page Poster Prints are now available! Get the covers of your first and last days here t o celebrate your amazing collegiate journey. To order please call 814-865-2531 or email mycolleg,ianad@gmail.com for more information and it allows me to work with col laborators at the Smithsonian," Freeman said. "My kids are excit ed about that." O'Leary, who is currently in France for I t research, was unavailable for •--4 ° comment and rep - 1., 'resentatives from 1 11 0 her department declined com ment. The Guggenheim Fellowship Award is intended for individuals who have demonstrated excep tional productivity and/or remark able artistic ability. The award process starts with an application, which is given to an expert in the same field as the applicant, who critiques the appli- ing of [transportation) sustainabil ity." Daniel Kwon (graduate-civil engineering) attended the summit to learn what the industry search es for in prospective employees. Kwon said the format of the summit made sense in terms of defining what is currently valued by employers and laying out what will be valued in the future. "It was the first time that we were exposed to this kind of infor mation," Kwon said. "We found out what government as well as indus try people are looking for" The second day of the summit broke participants into three groups that discussed the major issues facing workforce develop ment: recruitment, education and training and retention. When they reconvened, each group gave a small presentation with what it had decided. In general, the focus on young people was seen as the most use- LOCA.L O'Leary _-.- MITERID 2010 Mil cation and forwards all remarks to a selection committee. The selection committee then sends its recommendations to the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Board of Trustees for a final decision. - There's no pre-screening." Hatter said. "We review every application we receive, and we are need-blind." Freeman said she thinks she might have won due to her current research. "I think what I'm trying to do is a little off the beaten path scientifically. so it's a little unusu al." Freeman said. "I'm interested in how water and plants interact in a hot environment, something that is relevant, I feel." Both professors are already pursuing their research and though they cannot win another Workforce Development Program Manager Jarrett Stoltzfus during the Transportation Workforce Development Surnm:i ful strategy by the recruitment and education presenters. Students currently in first grade will enter the workforce around 2026. The summit attendees conclud- portation a develop;l).y;lt::i ed the best way to get those chil- in which a youn , :i - dren interested during their sec- mentored and traincti ondary education was through leader. .com/store FluuA', APRI►. 23. 2010 fellowship, they will alwa\ s be con sidered a Guggenheim OH' , A‘. "I'm grateful for the that Penn State has t n through my time here, Freeluzir said. "Just a little tip of t'.ctr Penn State.- Penn State spokeswontin Shocked' said the universii proud of the researchers. "We're pleased when an: of oar faculty are recognized tor outstanding acinevt..mcnts Katherine Freeman and O'Leary are certainly don, - Shocker said. achievements in their lieki commendable. and Nve'rL the Guggenheim Foundation has seen tit to nize their excellent work To e-mail reporter klks332opsu.edc niche programs students to the ;oil ,: transportation as a (.‘1 The retention ',;l-‘ ideas to make vvol Lip .2 0 ( ' ft:A *4t 1", Alitt4* * ' - * yourself. Ilicy Coll iii P ra M, PENN STA-11' BOOKSTOR PENN STATE 1 ;WC MI IM N 0
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