On May 22nd, YPT-NTC and the ASCE Younger Members Forum for NYC joined to present a technical talk with Grace Baird, Catenary Engineer for URS Corporation. Grace, a member of both YPT and ASCE, shared her story of how she entered the field of catenary engineering, and showed a powerpoint that was a great introduction to the challenges and fundamentals of the field. We learned how different transportation networks manage to provide power to rapid transit vehicles, how overhead contact systems work, some history of the technology, and about other technologies spanning the world.
The attendees asked questions at the end, and the event was followed by a happy hour at Local West. The response from both groups was very positive and hopefully we have inspired some new interest in the field of catenary engineering!
Visit www.yptnyc.org to learn about future events.
Thanks to Chrissie Carlin for summarizing this event!
Chrissie is a Principal Transportation Planner for MTA New York City Transit (NYCT), within the Operations Planning department. She has been with NYCT since 2007, when she began as an intern in Capital Planning & Budget then moved to Operations Planning with Rail Network Analysis. She serves on the YPT-NYC board as the Co-Vice Chair of Programming.