2019 MEMBER SPOTLIGHTS
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Quarter 4
Jonathan Schneider, PE, ENV SP
VHB
Transportation Analyst
“…it is a unique niche of infrastructure and business that one can be involved with, even right out of school.”
Biography
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Jonathan is a transportation analyst at VHB in New York City, working on all phases of projects, from early planning through construction management. Recently, his focus has been on the redevelopment of LaGuardia Airport through The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey’s Traffic Engineering Department. Prior to joining VHB, Jonathan assisted in reconstructing a runway at The Long Beach Airport (LGB), developing a maintenance manual for California High Speed Rail, programming space requirements for a whole-airport maintenance facility, and planning landside components for airports across the United States and in Ecuador.
Since joining YMC-A in 2016, Jonathan has participated in the mentoring program, acted as Secretary and Vice Chair, and is the incoming Chair of the organization. He has also volunteered in AV050, the Committee for Airport Terminals and Ground Access. Outside of TRB, Jonathan serves as a webinar coordinator for the Airport Consultants Council’s Young Professionals Forum.
Jonathan earned civil engineering degrees from The University of Maryland, College Park (B.S. 2015) and The University of California, Berkeley (M.S. 2016). He is also a licensed Civil Engineer in California. When not in the office, Jonathan can be found unicycling, playing music, or exploring the outdoors.
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YOUR STORY – HOW DID YOU GET INSPIRED TO WORK IN AVIATION?
My interest in aviation is really an interest in getting people and things from Point A to Point B. During undergrad, I figured that airport work was for civil engineers with 15+ years of experience, however my mindset changed during my senior year of college when I attended a session at TRB about converting airports into commercial spaceports.
Elliott Black of the FAA presented on the national airport system and the importance of redundancy to safety. At the same session, another presenter discussed how adding a spaceport required new firefighting facilities. The amount of logistics necessary to maintain existing infrastructure while embracing new business was intriguing.
Spaceports resurfaced a few months later when my first employer was recruiting airport planners. I stayed in touch with the recruiters and interviewed soon after. I found out aviation is not just for senior engineers – it is a unique niche of infrastructure and business that one can be involved with, even right out of school.
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WHAT ARE CHALLENGES AND SUCCESSES YOU HAVE ENCOUNTERED ALONG THE WAY?
Finding my identity in organizations has been challenging. Being part of a big community is not new to me – I took on leadership roles in high school and college without any problem, but those roles all had a defined end. Now into my career, I work with lifelong teammates, each with a unique background and interests. I find success because these connections result in people supporting one another, both at my company and at organizations like TRB.
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Multi-generational organizations can be daunting for young professionals. Along the way I have learned: people are enchanted by an eagerness to learn; to read everything; to build the ladder for younger peers to climb; and to be open-minded, yet confident. Genuine passion and curiosity earn the respect of higher generations.
THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY - WHERE DO YOU SEE IT?
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I see our industry emphasizing sustainability and resiliency, and I am excited to see that continue.
I think the next challenge is to control disruptive technology. Many airports are repurposing physical facilities to accommodate shifts in consumer behavior. Garages are converted into ridesharing pick-up curbs. Land zoned for commercial offices are now filled with e-commerce cargo warehouses. We have reacted quickly to these trends.
In the years to come, I think airports will have more control over the technological partners with whom they do business. Airports might require services to have a permit to operate, and permits would be enforced by cloud-based controls. Think about it this way: an autonomous car should follow virtual street signs. If the autonomous car is not permitted to operate, the virtual signs will be red. Once the car obtains a permit from an airport, the virtual signs turn green.
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WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST TAKEAWAY FOR OTHER YOUNG PROFESSIONALS IN AVIATION?
Stay positive and love what you do. Remember that the people with whom you work are your partners – make sure they succeed.
Quarter 3
Sarah Freeman
LeighFisher
Airport and Ground Transportation Planner
Sarah is a principal consultant with the airport planning firm LeighFisher based in San Francisco. Her work focuses mainly on airport landside facilities and ground transportation
Biography
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I earnt a degree in Mathematics and Economics and a master’s degree in Transportation Planning at the University of Leeds in England. I spent several years working in London as a consultant transport planner, working mostly on projects relating to passenger rail, roads, and public transportation in cities.
Since moving to the U.S. a few years ago my work has focused on airports. I find the airport landside to be a fascinating microcosm of the larger transport systems I have worked with previously such as that of a city, region or country.
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THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY - WHERE DO YOU SEE IT?
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It’s an interesting time to be working in aviation with so much change, especially for the airport landside, with the rise of TNCs disrupting the demand for traditional airport access modes and parking. If autonomous vehicles ever become widely available we could see a massive drop in demand for parking whilst airport roadways and curbside become ever more congested and valuable. Although it’s impossible to predict when and exactly how this might happen, it needs to be considered in long-term planning of airport facilities and operations, building in flexibility wherever possible.
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WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST TAKEAWAY FOR OTHER YOUNG PROFESSIONALS IN AVIATION?
The early years of your career is a great time to try to get a breadth of experience and knowledge by looking for opportunities to get exposure to different types of work and elements of the airport system. It helps to understand the bigger picture, even if you later specialize in a particular area.
Quarter 2
Sajad Mokhtarimousavi
Florida International University (FIU)
Ph.D. Candidate
“Don’t strive to be the best. It creates an illusion of an endpoint—and a delusion that the goal is to be superior to others. Strive to be better. The person you’re competing with is your past self, and the bar you’re setting is for your future self.”
- Adam Grant
Biography
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Sajad is pursuing his Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering at FIU in Miami, FL. His education background includes a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and a master’s degree in Transportation Planning from Islamic Azad University (IAU), Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran. His primary focus is on transportation systems planning, travel behavior analysis, and transportation safety. His master’s thesis research was on airport planning and surface management, focusing on runway capacity optimization through the best possible landing sequences. The focus of his Ph.D. is on econometric modeling, data science, and analytics related to transportation safety topics. He has recently won the prestigious 2019 Highway Safety Information System (HSIS) award, a national award presented by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Besides his academic life, Sajad has won several medals in Iran national show jumping competitions as a professional horse rider.
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YOUR STORY – HOW DID YOU GET INSPIRED TO WORK IN AVIATION?
My passion for aviation started after I fell in love with horses and became a national champion at the age of 10 in my hometown, Hamedan City. National competitions were held in different places across the country, and I had to travel frequently, at least 10 times a year. I was a junior student and was not able to easily make it, especially during school time. Participating in a competition miles away from my hometown and flying back the same day to catch up with my school life was only possible through air travel. Without air transportation, I could not experience the sweetness of winning moments, lifting cups, and wearing medals.
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Aviation made my dreams come true and now it’s my turn to do something in return; trying to improve air transportation systems to help keep everyone flying high!
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WHAT ARE CHALLENGES AND SUCCESSES YOU HAVE ENCOUNTERED ALONG THE WAY?
I think leaving my home country was the most challenging part of my life. Leaving family and friends behind was not an easy choice and quite difficult to deal with. After all, I’m now excited about what the future holds for me. My goal is to help create a more efficient transportation system which is safer, greener, smarter, and, more importantly, roadless for everyone, everywhere!
THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY - WHERE DO YOU SEE IT?
I believe that the future of the aviation industry belongs to Urban Air Mobility. Flying cars are becoming a reality. Having an alternative transportation option that reduces travel time, noise, pollution, and infrastructure needs is an essential part of future smart cities. There is a need for a transportation option that overcomes challenges, with traffic congestion among the most important. Flying cars will unlock new possibilities for the urban mobility paradigm that could not be explored in the past, by soaring above congested ground traffic.
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST TAKEAWAY FOR OTHER YOUNG PROFESSIONALS IN AVIATION?
I would highlight some in bullet points as follows:
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Aviation is a vibrant and data-intensive industry. It needs data processing and modeling skills to be able to analyze contributing factors to determine actionable insights. Machine learning techniques have paved the way toward that.
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Mentorship programs connect you with professionals who can direct you in the right direction. Never miss this opportunity.
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Engage in a hobby of your interest besides your job (I’m raising some goldfish; you choose yours). It could improve your performance at work significantly.
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Don’t be a Maybe! Only you are in charge.
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Don’t wish for it, work for it!
Quarter 1
Ryan Dittoe
Sacramento County Department of Airports
Airport Planner
"Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Biography
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Ryan is an Airport Planner for the Sacramento County Department of Airports, where he started as an Assistant Airport Planner after earning his master’s degree in city and regional planning from The Ohio State University in 2017.
While in school, Ryan incorporated his interest in aviation into his education by participating in various aviation research projects, practicing as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Center for Aviation Studies at Ohio State, and gaining real-world experience as a Planning and Engineering Co-op with the Columbus Regional Airport Authority.
He enjoys traveling, cars, (trying to play) the guitar, and hiking throughout northern California.
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YOUR STORY – HOW DID YOU GET INSPIRED TO WORK IN AVIATION?
Since I was tiny, I’ve loved visiting big cities. Their busyness and energy attracted me to urban design. As an adult, I travel as often as I can, but the in-between experiences of getting to those places is what developed my fascination with airports and airplanes.
It wasn’t until almost my junior year of college that I discovered “airport planning” as a career. Luckily, I was already studying a compatible discipline, so it was exciting to discover the connections between city planning and airport design. As I traveled through more airports I would envision new ways to move passengers through spaces, more efficient movement of aircraft, and better accommodation of automobiles on-site. After all, airports are just small cities.
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WHAT ARE CHALLENGES AND SUCCESSES YOU HAVE ENCOUNTERED ALONG THE WAY?
I consider one of my most substantial challenges as one of my most marked successes: moving across the country after I finished graduate school. Ohio is my home, and I left its familiarity to see what was on the west coast. It’s been a disquieting but immeasurably rewarding experience, and I’m thankful for all I’ve uncovered.
In a practical context, I spent a summer reviewing aircraft accident and incident reports, typically written from the pilots’ perspectives. After reading the narrative, my job was to correctly decipher the contributing factors to the event and locate where on the airport the event took place. I don’t have flight experience as a pilot, so I learned a wealth of information about flight procedures and safety regulations by reading these reports. The most regular occurrences were runway incursions, so I also began learning about airfield geometries and the hazards posed by certain elements of design.
I’ve figured out that the foremost way to tame a challenge is to confront it with the assurance that you’ll mess up, but you’ll also come to master it with enough determination.
THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY - WHERE DO YOU SEE IT?
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I think just about every dimension of the industry is evolving - security at airports, aircraft boarding and operations, environmentally sustainable design, and on and on.
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Big Data teaches us so much about our habits and our lives. Harnessing and understanding that information will tell planners and architects how to create a space that is traveler-oriented. By comprehending the way passengers get to the airport, how they spend their idle time, and what they’re willing to spend money on, we’ll be able to create secure, efficient, and competitive airports that accommodate the dynamics of travelers while respecting our environment.
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WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST TAKEAWAY FOR OTHER YOUNG PROFESSIONALS IN AVIATION?
I have three:
First, “effective communication” means something different to most people. Make sure you undoubtedly understand what you’re hearing – and what you’re saying!
Next, do something distinct from everyone else. Sure, it’s important to know a particular software or have so many years of work experience, but that’s easy. Be something more than the typical by honing an uncommon skill or becoming an expert in something you’ve heartfully pursued.
Lastly, I’ve learned to stop worrying about what I don’t know yet. Something I’ll never forget my mom telling me since I was little is that we never stop learning. Now I understand how critical it is to approach your career, and even your daily tasks, with a curious mind. Absorb knowledge from everywhere you can get it - anyone can be a mentor if you ask the right questions.