Dunmore, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) today announced that a team of students from the Wyoming Seminary Upper School in Kingston, Luzerne County was selected as the PennDOT Innovations Challenge regional winner in PennDOT Engineering District 4, which includes Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming Counties.
Mentored by John R. Eidam, Director, Louis Maslow STEM School, and Christopher Pons, instructor, team members from Wyoming Seminary team, nicknamed the “Blue Dragons,” include Richard Qian, Kim Zhang, and Max Li.
The PennDOT Innovations Challenge – now in its ninth year – is a statewide competition for high school students to develop creative and strategic solutions to real-world transportation challenges. The challenge reflects the Shapiro Administration’s focus on a safe, efficient transportation system and growing Pennsylvania’s workforce by introducing students to current transportation challenges and encouraging them to explore careers in transportation after high school.
With the unique challenge of keeping work crews protected and the travelling public safe in work zones, this year’s challenge asked students to develop a concept for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in work zones to dramatically improve safety for work crews and road users.
“At PennDOT, the safety of our crews who are working hard to improve our roadways is our primary concern, and we were impressed by the level of detail the Wyoming Seminary team presented in their Innovations Challenge proposal,” said Jonathan A. Eboli, P.E., District Executive. “From an AI driven system which can identify distracted or erratic driving at a distance, to a badge system which alerts crews to a potential hazard; the student’s proposal displayed a firm knowledge of how AI applications can be incorporated in our work zones.”
The winning regional team’s innovation was titled: “AI Powered Worker and Driver Warning System for PA Work Zones.
Regional Innovations Challenge winners will be invited to Harrisburg to present their solutions to the PennDOT Executive Deputy Secretary and a panel of judges in on April 15, when the statewide winner will be determined.
For this year’s challenge, the Transportation Policy and Education Foundation, an educational arm of the Associated Pennsylvania Constructors organization, the American Council of Engineering Companies of PA, the Mid-Atlantic Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers and the Intelligent Transportation Society of Pennsylvania are providing a combined total award of $6,000 to the statewide winning team.
For complete Innovations Challenge details, visit the PennDOT website.
Find PennDOT’s planned and active construction projects at www.pa.gov/DOTprojects. Subscribe to PennDOT news and find transportation results in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming counties at www.pa.gov/DOTdistrict4.
Find PennDOT news on X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
# # #