AASHTO Transportation and Civil Engineering (TRAC)
The AASHTO Transportation and Civil Engineering (TRAC) educational outreach program is designed for integration into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). TRAC has modules which engage students in solving real-world problems while connecting them to the work world of transportation. TRAC improves work force diversity which helps to resolve one of the most pressing problems faced by the transportation today: a critical shortage of civil engineers.
Highlights
Help launch a new NMDOT initiative to educate and attract future transportation professionals through a hands-on learning program at New Mexico high schools: the AASHTO Transportation and Civil Engineering (TRAC) program. NMDOT will implement TRAC at several high schools in New Mexico. The TRAC curriculum supports national Common Core standards and is designed for use in science, technology, engineering, and math courses. NMDOT engineers and staff can offer their support in the classrooms by demonstrating how the TRAC activities work, helping with the projects, and providing role models who can answer questions about transportation careers. Their involvement and leadership can help students understand the connections between concepts learned in the classroom and how those concepts are applied in practice.