2013 Symposium Call for Entries

If you are a middle-school teacher, you and your students can compete to win up to $500 for your classroom, plus a trip to San Jose, California, to be honored at the MTI Awards Banquet.

Each year members of the MTI Board of Trustees sponsor teams of students for a sustainable transportation study unit and competition. Faculty at San José State University’s College of Education developed the curriculum, and it includes a class or team project. Teams compete by videoconference, usually in March, with the U.S. Secretary of Transportation attending.

How it works

• The sponsoring organization contacts the school or teacher, arranges delivery of the workbooks, and provides the videoconference facility.
• The teachers of all classes participating in the competition receive $50 for project supplies.
• The students and teachers create a sustainable transportation project based on what they’ve learned.
• The project is presented at a national videoconference competition featuring the US Transportation Secretary and other transportation leaders.
• One presentation is chosen as the winner, and a student, parent, and teacher from that school receive an expense-paid trip to San Jose, Calif. for MTI’s annual scholarship awards banquet at the end of June.
• Top three teams receive plaques. The first-place team also receives a $500 check at the banquet. Second-place team wins $300, and third-place team wins $200. Their checks and plaques are delivered by mail.

Contact MTI Communications Director Donna Maurillo for information on how to participate.

Entry forms and resources

Learn more

• Read about the U.S. Department of Transportation's Garrett A. Morgan Technology and Transportation Futures program.
• Learn more about inventor Garrett Morgan
• View streaming videos from previous competitions. These will help students understand how the competition proceeds and how to best present their projects.
• Download the transcripts from previous competitions below. They may help students come up with ideas for a project — or they may improve on a previous team's idea.