When Stephen Popkin isn't performing cutting-edge safety work at Volpe, The National Transportation Systems Center, or serving as a keynote speaker for an international human factors conference, he dedicates his time to developing the next generation of transportation professionals.

Popkin, director of Volpe's Center for Safety Management Systems, also chairs the Transportation Research Board's (TRB) Railroad Operational Safety Committee. This committee received the first Blue Ribbon award from TRB's Technical Activities Council (TAC) for implementing its Young Member Scholarship Program. The TAC Blue Ribbon Committees Program recognizes exemplary best practices within TRB committees.

Developed and initiated by Railroad Operation Safety Committee members, the young member scholarship program aims to increase young member participation in TRB, and particularly in railroad safety and human factors work. "I'm honored to be leading this committee that created and implemented such a successful program," said Popkin. "My hope is that the model can be replicated within other committees and will ultimately serve as a pipeline to bring younger folks into TRB and the transportation field."

About the award-winning pilot program

Recognized in the community-building and mentoring Blue Ribbon award category, the Railroad Operational Safety Committee's young member scholarship program encourages young members to submit research papers based on the committee's research needs statements.
Scholarship recipients are required to present the paper to the committee and at a session during the TRB Annual Meeting. The recipient is offered funding to cover travel and conference fees and a position as a young member on the committee. Additional scholarship benefits include the following:

• networking with federal, industry, and labor leaders in railroad safety
• potential publication in the Transportation Research Record
• participation in the TRB Annual Meeting and committee activities

In 2013, 71 percent of the papers submitted to the TRB committee were from young members, which is a direct result of the pilot program. "And the [program's] benefits don't stop there. We've been able to gain international visibility for TRB and make connections with European universities that we otherwise would not have made," said Popkin.

The 2013 awardee was Ph.D. student Peri Smith from the Imperial College of London, who presented her work, "The impact of ERTMD [European Rail Traffic Management System] on human performance in railway operations – European findings."