Joseph Pajor, KBØKFH, has lined up a guest speaker for our next meeting. Dr. Brian A. Coon will present a program titled “Traffic Signals: Look Who’s Talking Now.” This sounds like a program you won’t want to miss.
Dr. Coon brings his experience as an engineer, attorney, and police officer to bear on transportation-related problems. After graduating the University of Iowa, Brian was youngest elected representative to the Iowa House of Representatives. Going back to engineering from politics, Brian studied at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he worked with the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility, where the SAFER Barrier was developed to protect racecars during crashes. After earning his master’s degree in civil engineering, Brian was a Fulbright Scholar at Sweden’s premier transportation research institute, VTI, Statens väg- och transportforskningsinstitut.
After returning from Sweden, Brian earned his doctorate in engineering and then graduated law school with honors at the University of Nebraska and is licensed to practice law in Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. Brian is a licensed Civil and Mechanical Engineer in Nebraska, a licensed engineer in Kansas, a Professional Traffic Operations Engineer, and an accredited Traffic Accident Reconstructionist. Brian is the chair of the Machine Design Exam Committee with NCEES and was a reserve police officer with the City of Maize for ten years. Brian also served as the sole technical expert in a whistleblower lawsuit, where a jury found that Trinity Industries had defrauded the Federal Government, awarding a $663M verdict. Brian is currently the Traffic Engineer and the Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator for the City of Wichita, Kansas.
Bring a friend, and if you see a former Chapter 79 member ask him or her to join us again. If you have an idea for a program, or know of someone who will present a program for one of our meetings, let Harold Childress, WBØLFH, know.