As a transportation community, we're challenged to understand the dynamics of our infrastructure, the interactions of its components, and its effect on the environment.

This community includes three very important groups: the researchers, the public sector, and the practitioners. The researchers shed light on the interactions between infrastructure, the environment, and people; the public sector prioritizes needs while allocating appropriate financial resources; and the practitioners (suppliers, planners, equipment manufacturers, and more) address these priorities by applying the research. Together, this community has developed a network of roadways, railroads, transit lines, waterways, airports, and pipelines that support the movement of people and commerce worldwide.

This transportation community gathers annually at the Transportation Research Board's (TRB) Annual Meeting – a rare opportunity for professionals to learn about a variety of transportation challenges and successes from leading industry experts.

No Transportation Problem Is Too Large Or Small For TRB

For more than 90 years, the professionals responsible for improving our infrastructure have come together to exchange ideas, improve their skills, and practice their craft under the banner of TRB.

The scope of work discussed at the TRB Annual Meeting is so vast that it relies on a legion of professionals. This year's meeting attracted more than 12,000 attendees, nearly 5,000 presentations, and an exhibition hall filled with hundreds of firms demonstrating their capabilities.

In the past, Dewberry professionals have been the principal investigators of several National Cooperative Highway Research Projects (NCHRP) reports, a tradition that Stu Geiger has carried on this year with an introduction to the NCHRP FloodCast project. Other Dewberry professionals who were also involved this year include Jim Heeren's participation identifying sustainable uses for unpaved right-of-way; Tom Graupensperger's presentation on solutions to joint stormwater and sanitary sewer system discharge (a common problem in our nation's historic cities); and Ileana Ivanciu's work as part of the Committee on Environmental Analysis in Transportation.

A Place to Tap Into the Knowledge of Professionals from Around the World

As an active member of the transportation community, we're keenly aware of our responsibility to maintain and improve infrastructure, provide for the cost-effective movement of people and materials, and protect the air, water, and land that surround our projects. To achieve this, we also have a responsibility to never stop learning and sharing.

The TRB annual meeting is an opportunity for people and groups to interact, collaborate, and learn. New ideas and products are presented, policies are debated, and stories of success (and occasionally failure) are reported. It can be overwhelming given the sheer number of topics, but change and progress cannot occur without such an organization.

There is no better place to do this than at the TRB Annual Meeting. A gathering of the best and brightest people in our industry, I believe every transportation professional has something to learn (and share) at this conference.