First female transportation center director trailblazing at Morgan State University
BALTIMORE -- Whether you're driving to work, taking the bus to school, or waiting on a delivery, transportation is an integral part of our lives.
"Not very many people know what transportation is all about. All they know is maybe trains and airplanes and trucks. But it's way more than that," said Dr. Mansoureh Jeihani, a leader in the transportation field.
Jeihani is the first female Director of the National Transportation Center at Morgan State University.
"In different seminars and conferences, I have been the only woman in the room or one of very few women in the room. Sometimes it's intimidating," Dr. Jeihani said. "But I learned I can do it. And usually we have to work harder, much harder, to show that we are capable of that."
Her students are researching autonomous vehicles, traffic modeling, equity, safety, and more.
They recently received a grant from the US Department of Transportation to lead research on transportation in the entire Mid-Atlantic region.
Morgan State is the first HBCU and the first university in our state to lead a USDOT Regional University Transportation Center.
"We use this research in our education. So we put those fundings into our classrooms," Jeihani said. "Students learn hands on projects using this research. We also do workforce development. We bring middle and high school students in during the summer. And we teach them about transportation, about STEM in general. And we show them all the wonderful things they can do and all the wonderful jobs they can get in transportation."
Jeihani said she faces many challenges as a woman in tech, but it's always been her mission to prove the critics wrong, and increase representation in the industry.
"I have been trying my best to encourage, to give the students, the female students, the empowerment to see that you can do it, you can go all the way," Jeihani said. "So I'm trying to be a good role model even for my own daughter. I always tell her, 'Do you want to be a strong woman? Are you a strong woman?' That is my message always for women."
She's a driving force for change, despite any bumps in the road.