Meeting will be by Zoom. Details in Canvas.

Speaker: Gretchen Bella, BS Engineering

Engineering Consultant, PhD Candidate in Transportation Systems Analysis & Planning at Northwestern University

Topic: Transportation Engineering and Urban Planning

Gretchen Bella attended the Academy of Science & Technology and graduated in 2015, after which she attended the University of Texas at Austin and graduated from the Cockrell School of
Engineering with a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering with a focus in Transportation Studies in 2019. From 2019-2021, Gretchen worked as a private transportation engineering consultant. She now attends Northwestern University and is pursuing a PhD in Transportation Systems Analysis & Planning.

If done right, transportation engineering and urban planning can lead to happier, healthier, more equitable cities. If done wrong, poorly designed roads can create conditions which lead to
vehicular deaths, drastically increased carbon emissions, and physical barriers to economic development in a city. This presentation will discuss the basics of transportation engineering and urban planning and why they are more relevant today than ever. Additionally, as an AST alumna, Gretchen will discuss how her time in the Academy shaped her collegiate career and how she ended up getting a PhD in engineering after she didn’t even take AP Physics in high school.