BISMARCK, ND ( KXNET ) — The North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT) has launched a new education program that they hope will spark interest among high school students to consider pursuing careers in transportation civil engineering.

NDDOT’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education Program was unveiled to North Dakota high school teachers who attended the CTE Professional Development Conference on Wednesday, August 7 at the Bismarck Event Center.

“There’s just not as many students going into that. It’s critical that we fill this vital need to continue the engineering field so that we can continue to build roads, bridges, buildings, and systems for the public,” explained Chad Orn, NDDOT deputy director for planning.

Professional civil engineers from across the region showcased their projects at the event.

Teachers were shown various modules that they were encouraged to incorporate into teaching their students as part of the education program.

Among the various modules presented at the conference included displays on bridge design, traffic safety, roadway construction, and environmental engineering.

“Most kids haven’t even heard of this field, and you can’t get a student interested in it until you expose them to it, and that’s why this program will be so important,” said Byron Borgen, who was among several technology and engineering high school teachers attending the event.

Borgen teaches technology and engineering classes to high school students in Minot.

He plans on taking what he learned at the conference and incorporating it into his lesson plans for his students and believes the field of engineering is vitally important.

“Our whole civilization is based on engineering, people would not survive in the world that we live in without engineering,” explained Orn.

Borgen says he hopes that the new education program will encourage more interest in the field of civil engineering among his students, who may want to pursue a career in a field that is often overlooked.

“It is crucially important and vital to our society. Civil engineering can be a wonderful profession because you’re changing the world and making it function in a way that’s better and more efficient for our society,” Borgen said.

NDDOT is partnering with local schools across North Dakota to help implement the program into their curriculums in the coming school year.

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