WTS names 2015 scholarship winners

WTS International, the association for the professional advancement of women in transportation, has announced the selection of the winners of its seven scholarships for 2015. Each of the winners will be recognized at an awards banquet on May 21 during the 2015 WTS Annual Conference in Chicago.

The scholarship winners are:

• Margaret-Avis Akofio-Sowah – WTS CH2M Partnership Scholarship. Akofio-Sowah is pursuing a doctorate in transportation engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology where she is a graduate research assistant working with the Infrastructure Research Group.

• Eleni Bardaka – WTS Leadership Legacy Scholarship. Bardaka has master’s degree in economics from the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University, which she completed in May 2014. After completing a Ph.D. in August 2016, she plans to acquire a position at a well-established intergovernmental/non-governmental organization or global research institution

• Arianna Allahyar – WTS Helene Overly Graduate Scholarship. Allahyar recently earned a bachelor’s degree in urban and regional planning from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She will continue her graduate studies in transportation engineering at the University of Washington and hopes to continue her contributions to the planning profession upon graduation.

• Alyssa Manning  – WTS Molitoris Leadership Scholarship for Undergraduates. Manning is a professional pilot pursuing her flight instructor’s certification and upon graduation in May 2015, she will be flying as a flight instructor, skydiving pilot, and working as a technical assistant for Cardinal Health Aviation.

• Kim Kinnison – WTS Sharon D. Banks Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship. Kinnison is pursuing an undergraduate degree in geography with an emphasis in urban studies/planning from University of Colorado. Upon graduation in May, she plans to continue her transportation education through graduate school.

• Amanda Grace Spradling – WTS Junior College Scholarship. Spradling is a student at Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC) where she is studying math, chemistry and physics with a plan to transfer to the University of Minnesota for engineering next year.

• Hailey Elias – WTS Transportation YOU High School Scholarship. Elias recently shadowed an engineer at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, which inspired her to obtain a degree in aerospace engineering and technologies.

“WTS is proud of each of our scholarship winners,” WTS president and CEO Marcia Ferranto said. “These women – as well as the hundreds who have won scholarships awarded by their local WTS chapters – have exhibited incredible dedication to preparing themselves to enter the transportation industry. With women like these focused on the disciplines required to bring our industry to the next level of efficiency and reliability in a sustainable and accessible way, we are all in good hands. WTS Foundation was established to foster the development of the transportation industry’s workforce through scholarship, research, and education, and our scholarship program has been extremely successful, as evidenced by the paths of our past scholarship winners.”