High school students spend a week engaged in transportation innovation

National Summer Transportation Institute student participants gathered for a group photo.

National Summer Transportation Institute student participants gathered for a group photo.

Published August 11, 2025

The University at Buffalo’s 2025 National Summer Transportation Institute (NSTI) was conducted last week under the leadership of Dr. Qian Wang, associate professor of teaching and the director of undergraduate studies for the Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering department. 

Print
“Thank you for the opportunities you provided for our children. I am grateful to have programs like this to expose our children to jobs and research in the field of engineering."
Parent of participating student

Opened in 2013, the NSTI program is an annual K-12 scholarship program that provides high school students with opportunities to investigate careers and explore educational pathways in today's transportation industry and beyond.

This year, as with the previous years, the program was funded by the Stephen Still Institute for Sustainable Transportation and Logistics (ISTL). Twenty-five students were admitted and for a week they participated in lectures, hands-on projects, field trips and tours to explore varying aspects of transportation systems. 

National Summer Transportation Institute students use the virtual driving simulator inside the Transportation Research and Visual Laboratory.

National Summer Transportation Institute students using the virtual driving simulator inside the Transportation Reseach and Visual Laboratory.

The institute covered topics on multi-modal transportation systems, transportation infrastructure, traffic operations and control, traffic simulations, sustainability and emerging technologies such as autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, machine learning and 3D printing. 

The program recently culminated with family and friends joining the closing ceremony to watch students give presentations on what they learned and to discuss their favorite part of the experience. 

Parents provided warm feedback for the program. 

“Thank you for the opportunities you provided for our children. I am grateful to have programs like this to expose our children to jobs and research in the field of engineering,” said one parent. 

“Thank you again for providing such great opportunities for kids. My daughter said this week is one of the best weeks she had this summer,” noted another parent.