 The Kentucky Engineering Exposure Network (KEEN) is a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) Program dedicated to teaching Kentucky's youth about STEM topics. It is a unique partnership between the Commonwealth of Kentucky's student base and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, delivering presentations, activities, and resources to students at no cost. KEEN is appropriate for many age groups and focuses on STEM topics and resources, including engineering concepts, engineering roles within transportation, applied mathematics, and KYTC scholarship programs.
KYTC engineers and professionals volunteer to introduce students to engineering career fields through fun activities in the classroom, engaging at career fairs, and attending youth groups and camps.
Examples of Activities
• Make a boat from aluminum
• Build a bridge with toothpicks or a K’NEX building set
• Locate underground utilities
• Learn about careers in civil engineering
• Learn about the environment – erosion, watersheds, & pollution
• Learn about snow and ice road clearing with a Vehicle Day at school
The SPARKS newsletter will be emailed periodically to subscribers with information about careers, STEM presentations, events and more. Please sign up below:
What is your KYTC Highway District?
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 Community Focus: KYTC Careers Working the Eastern Kentucky Flood Disaster Response
By Jennifer McCleve and Will Holmes
KYTC is dedicated to serving our communities every day. KYTC has many service-focused careers, including but not limited to inspectors, engineers, project managers, equipment operators, construction workers, and maintenance technologists.
Every day, our workforce has an opportunity to go the extra mile for their neighbors. The Eastern Kentucky July flooding event set the landscape for us to serve.
On July 28, 2022, the Eastern Kentucky region was devastated by the intense flooding, including earth slides, road washouts, extensive debris, and bridge damages. The flood impacted 13 counties and thousands of Kentuckians.
Responding to a disaster event requires prioritizing and executing multiple actions to help first responders provide life-saving help, restore critical connections and improve safety. Bridge inspectors surveyed over 1,000 bridges within weeks to assess their safety, and they have identified nearly 170 flood-damaged bridges.
Engineers used these assessments to develop a repair plan with project managers to open the bridges as quickly as possible. State forces from across the state were deployed to Eastern Kentucky to help with the recovery efforts. KYTC also spearheaded the travel trailer mission to locate, transport, and inspect temporary housing to flood survivors. In addition, project managers oversaw debris removal programs, in partnership with state employees and contracted forces, to clean up the damage. Crews of equipment operators, technologists, and engineers worked diligently to remove debris as quickly as possible. As of Oct 7, 135,653 tons of debris has been removed from the right of way (state and county-owned roadsides) and 187,741 tons from waterways.
KYTC employees have proven to be the operational backbone of state government when disaster strikes. We help solve problems for Kentuckians, and you can too. You can join the ranks of KYTC that serve their community and keep Kentucky moving.
Follow Up for Students:
• For more information about KYTC’s involvement in the EKY recovery effort: https://ekytransportation-kytc.hub.arcgis.com/
• What KYTC career could you choose to help your community?
• What can you do today to help your community?
• What can you do to be prepared for a disaster?
 One Voice Interview: Summer STEM at KSU
By Michael Black and David Otte
Kentucky State University (KSU) has hosted a group of high school students for a program called the Summer Transportation Institute (STI) during the summer break for the past six years. STI introduces students to STEM concepts and their applications in the transportation industry. It also gives these high school students a glimpse of college life with a short-term summer stay on the KSU campus.
KYTC/KEEN provided transportation-related hands-on learning activities and information regarding KYTC’s transportation systems through presentations. KEEN presentations range in subjects from bridge building to KYTC careers, GIS mapping, and many other STEM concepts. KYTC provides tours of several KYTC facilities, including the Transportation Cabinet Office Building (TCOB), KYTC Division of Materials Laboratory, Traffic Operations WAR room, and the KYTC Equipment Warehouse. Demonstrations of the Office of Safety and Health’s “Rollover Simulator” is shared with STI participants.
These opportunities provide STI students with insights into the good work done by KYTC and how they may positively contribute in careers of their own.
Casey Townsend, STI coordinator, says, “I believe that KYTC/KEEN helps the STI program by interacting with transportation industry professionals. It is a learning opportunity for students to draw connections about how broad transportation is and what skills would be required of them to establish a successful career in the field.”
Mr. Townsend indicated that half of the participants from this past summer were return students. Therefore, the interest in transportation as a career is strengthened through the STI program.
The ultimate goal of the STI program is to stimulate interest in transportation as a career. Outreach and education programs, such as STI, deserve the support of industry leaders. KYTC/KEEN pledges to continue to support the program by providing hands-on learning experiences to inspire the next generation.
Mr. Townsend states, “I believe the most beneficial contribution from KYTC/KEEN is to interact with professionals from different divisions within the Kentucky Transportation Center and KYTC. When lessons focus on experiential learning, the students can gain insight on how they can potentially connect to a specific career.”
KSU’s STI program is held during the months of June and July on the KSU campus in Frankfort, Kentucky. Areas of focus for the program include vehicular, aviation, rail, pedestrian, and multimodal forms of transportation systems. The program involves hands-on learning, classroom instruction, and numerous field trips to transportation-oriented locations. Students are also given the opportunity to have fun “outside” of learning opportunities with visits to various museums and a trip to the Kentucky Kingdom amusement park.
For more information regarding STI, please contact Casey Townsend at KSU at (502) 597-5954 or at Casey.Townsend@kysu.edu.
If you are interested in KYTC KEEN presenters coming to your class, please fill out our contact form.
 Truss Placement on New U.S. 60 Cumberland River Bridge at Smithland
Watch a time-lapse of this unique project by clicking the image above.
After months of construction and planning by KYTC teams, the 700-foot steel truss for the new U.S. 60 Cumberland River Bridge at Smithland was installed. The truss was transported for installation by floating upstream on the Ohio River to the bridge construction site near the mouth of the Cumberland River in Livingston County.
 Reaching Out: Three KYTC Scholarship Opportunities
By Ramona Brock
The cabinet also offers three scholarships for engineering and construction management. All programs include summer internships and a full-time job upon graduation. The deadline to apply is February 1. Check out our website for more information and to download an application.
1. Civil Engineering Scholarship
The Civil Engineering Scholarship awards up to $59,200 for students pursuing a four-year degree in Civil Engineering.
2. NEW Construction Management Scholarship
For the first time, a limited number of scholarships will also be awarded for a four-year degree in Construction Management.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is excited to announce a new scholarship program for students pursuing a Construction Management degree. Just launched for the fall 2023 semester, this scholarship will pay up to four years of education at Northern Kentucky University, Eastern Kentucky University, Western Kentucky University, Morehead State University, or Murray State University and is worth up to $59,200 (before taxes).
3. Civil Engineering Technology Scholarship
The Civil Engineering Technology Scholarship awards up to $12,000 to complete an Associate’s Degree in Civil Engineering Technology from BCTC or BSCTC.
The scholarship programs provide employment during the summer and after graduation. Visit our website for more information.
Several KYTC scholarship recipients talk about their experience below:
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