Featured Article Vol 39 No 1.1

By Grace Kleinaitis, LTAP Technical Writing Intern 

Meet Jen Sharkey: the newest addition to the Purdue University Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP). Although she’s a new hire, she’s no stranger when it comes to the transportation industry: Jen has held prestigious positions such as a design engineer with A&Z Engineering, LLC, as well as highway department administrator as the Steuben County Engineer. As the Lead Research Engineer, she will apply her breadth of experience, patience and persistence, and unique approach to supervise the LTAP research program.

Her approach as Lead Research engineer will start with the solution, working backwards to ensure that results can positively impact local agencies with the challenges they are facing. By keeping her eye on the prize, she makes sure her projects are headed in the right direction. This is a highly functional approach, keeping the research program focused on a singular goal that is tailored to a local community.

Jen’s passion for transportation engineering can be partially attributed to her avid travel history. She’s checked the box on six of the seven continents, looking forward to visiting Antarctica to “complete [her] collection.” Although methods of travel and infrastructure vary widely across the world from mules on trodden trails in the Grand Canyon to eighteen parallel lanes in Buenos Aires, Jen believes that transportation is something that connects everyone and can best be addressed from the “grassroots” local government level. For continental forms of travel, Jen likes taking her golden retriever puppy, Loki, to State Parks to hike. Jen also understands the paramount importance of well-engineered transportation infrastructure. In high school, she lost close family friends to an automobile accident and vowed to study civil engineering to do what she could to prevent any more tragedies of that nature. She went on to get her Master of Civil Engineering at Purdue with a concentration in transportation. There, she worked with John Haddock and current LTAP Program Manager, Richard Domonkos, as a graduate research assistant.

Her ties with Indiana LTAP have remained strong since her graduation. She has consistently collaborated with current staff members and has served on the LTAP Board of Directors. Indiana LTAP is glad to welcome Jen Sharkey to the team, greeting her as an old friend with open arms.