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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited Morgan State University on Wednesday to highlight the president’s investments in infrastructure.
The HBCU (Historically Black College and University) is home to the National Transportation Center, which is run and funded by the Department of Transportation. It invests in schools to advance transportation research and technology and develop the next generation of transportation professionals.
“We are proud that we are one of only two HBCUs who are the lead in their transportation centers, among 40 university transportation centers nationwide,” said Mansoureh Jeihani, a Morgan professor and director of the National Transportation Center.
Pete Buttigieg visits HBCU doing important work for tranportation
Congress passed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in November 2021, and Buttigieg was at Morgan State viewing some federally funded research projects created by the HBCU students.
In an interview with theGrio, Buttigieg said “I didn’t just come here to be a voice to the HBCUs from a research perspective. I also came here as a recruiter. There are hundreds of positions that we need to fill in my department alone, just in order to deliver on this bipartisan infrastructure law.”
Buttigieg witnessed and rode some of the newest STEM innovations from automated wheelchairs and other moving apparatus meant for personal or public use.
Buttigieg said the department’s need for talent like that at Morgan State is crucial in order to “put that funding to work.”
“That’s going to take a lot of talent, and we’ve already got enormous talent in our department. But we need to hire more people to help us effectively use those dollars. So at USAjobs.gov right now, there are job postings, and we’re going to be actively recruiting on campuses like this one, letting people know these opportunities that are out there and just how much we need that talent in order to be able to deliver on this bill,” said Buttigieg.