In early January, Vaughn students Scarlet Zambrano ’23, Tommaso Rossi ’24 and Ananya Sharma ’24 attended the Transportation Research Board’s annual conference in Washington D.C. The experience gave students the opportunity to meet and speak with inspirational professionals in aviation and various other transportation fields. Board of Trustees member, Patty Clark, was honored at the conference with the Francis X. McKelvey Award for her continuous dedication to the aviation industry. 

The conference also covered all transportation modes, with sessions and workshops addressing topics of interest in policy makers, administrators, practitioners, researchers, representatives of government, industry and academic institutions.  

Topics discussed in this year’s meeting included the impact of COVID-19 on aviation and our path to recovery, environmental issues in aviation and airport terminals. During the conference, Vaughn students spoke virtually with United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. After the event, students and faculty had the opportunity to celebrate with Trustee Clark.  

“The experience of attending the 2022 TRB conference in-person for the first time has been inspiring, motivating and extremely interesting,” said Rossi. “I’d like to thank everyone who dedicated some of their time to having a conversation with me, giving me valuable advice and inspiring me to be a better professional.” 

 

(L-R) Dr. Maxine Lubner, Ananya Sharma, Scarlet Zambrano, Trustee Clark, Chaundra Daniels and Tommaso Rossi.
Fireside chat with Pete Buttigieg.