Mount Vernon STEAM Academy students get primer on traffic engineering

Students at the Mount Vernon STEAM Academy ran into some welcome traffic Monday morning – by listening to a detailed presentation by a transportation engineer who seeks to ease congestion on the region’s roads.

Jake Sigman, who works for engineering firm WSP, spoke to about 20 students and was joined by his father, Eric Sigman, the school’s director of STEM.

The young man began his presentation by describing the various engineering specialties – mechanical, civil, chemical, computer and software, among others – before delving into his area of expertise: helping people get “from point A to point B.”

Mr. Sigman, who earned his bachelor’s in engineering at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, illustrated his work by showing a series of graphics, including maps, photographs and animations.

One of them featured roundabouts, also known as traffic circles, one of which lies just a few hundred feet south of the school. They are designed to reduce conflict points, lower speeds and promote continuous vehicular movement. 

“If I say I'm a traffic engineer people say, ‘What's your take on roundabouts?’” Mr. Sigman said.

He then went on to describe the challenges of routing traffic near the Brooklyn Cruise terminal in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn. Vehicular access is through the primary gate near the intersection of Bowne and Imlay Streets.

“About 6,000 people need to get off a cruise ship on a Sunday morning and 6,000 people need to get on in just four hours,” said Mr. Sigman, who is pursuing a master’s degree at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering. 

“This means one person every two seconds needs to get on and off that ship, so think about how much traffic that's going to produce,” he added.

Various mitigations were introduced to help manage traffic following an analysis of congestion patterns.

Mr. Sigman also explained the operation of vehicle detection loops, also called inductive-loop traffic detectors, which can detect vehicles passing or arriving at a certain point, such as a traffic light. An electrically conducting loop is installed in the pavement.

During times of light traffic, like late at night, these mechanisms prevent prolonged red lights.

“We don't want to have 30 seconds of red light for no reason,” he said.

One of the students who asked questions was Naszier Chung, who said he found the presentation very interesting – even though he has another engineering career path in mind. 

“I want to study nuclear engineering in college,” he said.  

Catherine Hallissy, the teacher, said she was very happy that her STEM students got a glimpse into the work of a practicing engineer,

“I think it's great to give the students a glimpse into a field that they could pursue after high school and I thought today was especially a great way to learn about what civil engineering is and what you can do with it,” she said.

The Mount Vernon STEAM Academy has been ranked as a top 25 public high school in Westchester County and in the top 6% of public schools in New York State, according to Public School Review’s 2024-2025 rankings, and giving students exposure to well-paying, scientific careers is just one example of why.