The January WTS Transportation YOU (TrYOU) started the new year off with…a bolt of lightning! Bob Swayne with the Franklin Institute introduced us to the life and career of Benjamin Franklin, a founding father who is credited with discovering electricity with his now-famous kite-in-a-thunderstorm experiment. But, not only was he a scientist and an engineer, he was also a well-known printer, postmaster, politician, and diplomat, and with all that free time (just kidding!), he also founded the University of Pennsylvania, the American Philosophical Society, Pennsylvania Hospital, and Franklin and Marshall College. He is also the only person in U.S. history to have signed all four documents that helped create the United States.

Donna Guzewski and Desarie Hammond-Jones, WTS TrYOU Professional Development Co-Leads, came through with another fun an exciting activity to learn about the professional workplace: a fashion show! WTS TrYOU mentor volunteers showed off their best workplace attire from going in for an interview, to your first day on the job, to going out in the field for a bridge or roadway inspection. We discussed the dos and don’ts of professional workplace attire and some resources for finding the right outfit for an interview or your first day on the new job.

During lunch, Jennifer Laning, P.E., Associate Vice President and Bridge Inspection Practice Leader with Pennoni Associates, presented on WTS Works. This is an internship opportunity offered through WTS Philadelphia to members of Transportation YOU and the WTS Philadelphia Student Chapter. The goal of this program is to create opportunities for young women to gain real world experience from industry leaders in an environment that celebrates talent, diversity, and encourages professional development.

After lunch, Andrea Carberry, P.E., Transportation Engineer at Rybinski Engineering, talked about her role as a traffic engineer working on signal projects and intersection crash analysis studies in Pennsylvania and Delaware. She also shared some of the innovative technologies used to collect traffic engineering data in the field. Perfect time to get that field gear ready! Kiera Crenny, Traffic Engineer at Whitman, Requardt and Associates (WRA), also shared her professional evolution from participating in Transportation YOU as mentee and being scholarship recipient, to a student at Delaware University studying engineering, to an intern at WRA where she also landed a full-time position as a traffic engineer after graduating from the University of Delaware. Thank you to Andrea and Kiera for sharing your professional experience and talents with us!

Thank you to Pennoni Associates for hosting the event, to Danielle Schroeder, Andrea Carberry, Kiera Crenny, Donna Guzewski, Desarie Hammond-Jones, and Erica Antoine for organizing the activities, and to all the mentors who participated in the WTS TrYOU professional attire and workwear fashion show.