UW PacTrans Workforce Development Institute · August 3–7, 2026
From August 3 to 7, 2026, the Workforce Development Institute hosted the Washington State Department of Transportation High School Summer Camp, where 37 students spent a week discovering that transportation is far bigger than roads and bridges. Students explored maritime career pathways on a field trip to Washington State Ferries and took part in an accessibility session led by Anat Caspi, PhD, of the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology, where they collected real data on curb ramps and crosswalks and saw firsthand why accessible design matters.
Washington Secretary of Transportation Julie Meredith joined the students with a message that stayed with them: transportation is a team sport. It takes engineers, planners, archaeologists, biologists, communicators, welders, and a whole range of people to move Washington. Secretary Meredith, whose own degree is in environmental science, fielded sharp questions from students about electrification and shared that she looks to their generation to bring innovation into the field. Throughout the week, students worked on projects to redesign intersections in their own communities that they believe need safety improvements, presenting their ideas at the end of camp to parents, grandparents, and family friends, who expressed real gratitude for the chance for their students to spend a week at the UW exploring careers. Helping students imagine what is possible, and picture how they will shape the future of transportation in Washington, is exactly why the Institute does this work.