Department of Industrial Engineering
4207 Bell Engineering Center
1 University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Phone: (479) 575-3156
Fax: (479) 575-8431
GirlTREC 2017: A Huge Success!
MarTREC hosted thirty-five 5th and 6th grade girls at GirlTREC, this summer. The
camp focused on engaging the campers, in hands-on activities and projects related
to transportation engineering, from roads to rail to waterways.
Eighty percent of the projects were led by female faculty from civil and industrial
engineering. During the camp, the students learned about soil types in bridge construction
from Michelle Bernhardt, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering; the importance
of social data during a disaster response from Ashlea Milburn, Assistant Professor
of Industrial Engineering; and how traffic controls work with Sarah Hernandez, Assistant
Professor of Civil Engineering. 
Other projects brought to the group included: Restoring Infrastructure Systems after
a Catastrophic Event with Sarah Nurre, Assistant Professor of Industrial Engineering;
Model Lock System by Heather Nachtmann, Associate Dean for Research, Professor and
director of MarTREC; and Learning PDSA Problem-Solving Method through a Dominoes Game
with Shengfan Zhang, Assistant Professor of Industrial Engineering.
The students also took a field trip to Ozark-Jetta Taylor Lock and Dam #12, led by
Lock Master, Kevin Dunn. The girls learned about water safety, operation of the lock,
and the economics behind barge travel. Campers got to see up close the overall operation
of the lock and dam system.
“The goal of GirlTREC was to send the message to young women that a career in transportation is within their reach,” explained Heather Nachtmann. “We hope that by spreading this message, we can attract a more diverse group of students to the fields of transportation and engineering.”