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In This Issue 
  -President's Message 
  -Announcements 
  -May Event Recap:
   Joint Traffic Club Event
  -TRYou Science Carnival Recap
  -Sponsor Spotlight: Jacobs


Upcoming Events
JUNE 4
Scholarship Fundraiser: Night at the Races

JUNE (DATE TBD)
Professional Development Event

JULY (DATE TBD)
Membership Mixer/DBE Expo

Job Postings
The Burns Group: Senior Track Engineer, Traction Power Engineer, Electrical Project Engineer, Catenary Engineer, Senior Signals Engineer


Board of Directors
PRESIDENT
Megan Syrnick
Hill International

VICE PRESIDENT
Patti Gibson
Envision Consultants, Ltd.

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY
Elizabeth Hansmann
Jacobs

RECORDING SECRETARY
Elizabeth Smith
SEPTA

TREASURER
Erica Antoine
Burns Engineering, Inc.

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Carol Rose
STV Incorporated

COMMUNICATIONS CHAIR
Jasmine Narcisse
BREE & Associates, Inc.

CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP CHAIR
Samantha Safara
Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson

DIVERSITY CHAIR
Apiramy Appulingam
RS&H

MEMBERSHIP CHAIR
Lindsey Graham
HNTB Corporation

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
CO-CHAIRS
Lee Wolfe
AECOM
and
Karen Hulshizer
Gilmore and Associates

PROGRAMS CO-CHAIRS
Irene Eells
Ammann & Whitney
and
Orla Pease
Urban Engineers

SCHOLARSHIP AND AWARDS
CO-CHAIRS
Jenna Oskowitz
HNTB Corporation
and
Linell Homentosky
AECOM

TRANSPORTATION YOU CO-CHAIRS
Jaclyn Raciti
Jacobs
and
Faye Majekodunmi
Amtrak

The Philadelphia Chapter of WTS was formed by twelve women on June 21, 1979. Since its formation, the Philadelphia Chapter has focused on promoting the development and advancement of women in the transportation industry.

 A Note From Our Chapter President

Greetings WTS Community,

The WTS Annual Conference in Chicago concluded on May 22, 2015. This year’s conference presented great networking, informative technical sessions, insightful professional development seminars, and inspirational keynote speakers, including environmental advocate Erin Brockovich and former US Marine combat pilot Vernice Armour. Did you know Erin Brockovich’s dad was an engineer? She spoke of the values instilled in her by her parents that lead her to an unanticipated career as a public safety advocate, and how her dad’s background in engineering shaped those values and commitment to public health and safety. Fly Girl Vernice Armour is recognized by the Department of Defense as America’s First African American Female Combat Pilot. She provided an inspirational talk on acknowledging obstacles without giving them power and granting permission to engage in your own life and career.

Overall, the conference invigorated our chapter attendees for the next order of business, which is the June 4th Scholarship Fundraiser. If you have not yet signed up, what are you waiting for? See the event registration link in our upcoming events list to the left. Whether you were able to attend the conference or not, I hope you had a wonderful experience celebrating National Transportation Week and WTS Annual Conference Week and I hope to see you at the Ballroom at the Ben on June 4th.
 
Regards,

Megan Syrnick
President, WTS Philadelphia Chapter

 WTS Announcements

MEMBERS MAKING TRACKS
- Liz Smith, WTS Philadelphia Recording Secretary as well as WTS members Emily Scholl and Kate Russo were recognized as Top TDM Professionals Under 40 by the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association! See more here.

- Congratulations to WTS Member Joe Casey, General Manager of SEPTA, for winning the CMAA Mid-Atlantic Chapter's "2015 Person of the Year" award! Read more here.

GOLD CIRCLE OF EXCELLENCE

WTS Philadelphia Chapter achieved the Gold Circle of Excellence honor and won the International Circle of Excellence TrYOU award at the National Conference!!

KEYSTONE CORRIDOR GOLF OUTING
WTS Philadelphia Chapter participated in the 2nd Annual Keystone Corridor Golf Outing as a foursome comprised of some very skilled WTS members! We would like to thank the organizers for a great event as well as a generious contribution to the chapter of $2,000! 

Joint Event Recap: National Transportation Week Luncheon

WTS Philadelphia joined the Traffic Club of Philadelphia on May 13, 2015, for the National Transportation Week Luncheon at the Top of the Tower. Philadelphia’s Traffic Club President, Robert Childs, invited WTS Philadelphia President, Megan Syrnick, to present the official Proclamation from the Mayor’s Office designating May 11-15, 2015 as National Transportation Week in Philadelphia. Keynote speaker Robert Voltmann, President and CEO of the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), spoke about the critical issues facing the transportation logistics industry including capacity restrains, crumbling infrastructure, and shortage of skilled labor; most notably, skilled commercial drivers. The event concluded with the presentation of the Traffic Club of Philadelphia’s William J. Tucker Scholarship. 

Pictured: Robert Childs, Philadelphia’s Traffic Club President (left) Megan Syrnick, WTS Philadelphia President (middle), Robert Voltmann, President and CEO TIA (right).

Transportation YOU Science Carnival Recap

Transportation YOU had an amazing time at this year’s Science Carnival on May 2nd! This year we again escorted our mentees through the science fair, enjoying booths that allowed us to learn about science topics such as buoyancy, the human brain, the physics of skateboarding, and we even got to build our own luge sleds and then race them against each other. We also got to sit in a helicopter, and meet an Olympic medalist. In addition to escorting our mentees through the carnival, we also hosted our own booth this year: “Can you fly through the target.” We instructed participants in making paper airplanes, teaching them about some of the science behind flight, and then had them aim at a series of targets to see if their plane could make it through. We had a great time in the booth, and hope that we met a few new students who will be participating in next year’s Transportation YOU program!! Our next event will be our end of year celebration in June.

Sponsor Spotlight: Jacobs
Offering Diverse Services and Targeting Diverse Talent

With a global network that includes over 250 offices in more than 30 countries, Jacobs is one of the largest professional services firms in the world. We consistently rank among the top firms in the engineering industry, however these rankings only hint at the diverse talent our 66,000 professionals possess. Employee talent is the cornerstone of our success. Therefore, we create an environment where our employees meet fresh and exciting challenges. At Jacobs, every employee contributes to our value-added performance and we value the safety and well-being of our staff, clients, and end-users of our design and construction projects. We strive to offer our team a positive, caring environment that respects each individual and promotes well-being, safekeeping, and opportunity for everyone.

WTS plays a large role in the professional development of our employees and we are proud to be a Guardian Level national sponsor and a Platinum Level sponsor of the Philadelphia Chapter. Our internal Professional Women’s Collaborative also helps to advance women in our diverse workforce. The goal of Jacobs Professional Women’s Collaborative is to provide women and men with the opportunity to build multi-national networks, develop leadership and technical skills, and enhance their careers at Jacobs. Our Jacobs Future Network also helps to develop future leaders from throughout our organization via professional development activities and networking opportunities. We strive to develop the best and brightest talent in the industry through these programs and others like them.

For more information, please contact Elizabeth Hansmann, Inside Sales Manager at 267.234.9515, elizabeth.hansmann@jacobs.com. 

Pictured: Jennifer Parker, WTS Philadelphia Website Subcommittee Chair and Jaclyn Raciti, WTS Philadelphia Transportation YOU Co-Chair.