Scholarships
2023 Scholarship applications will be available in Spring of 2023
To assist women pursuing education and professional careers in transportation-related fields, the Greater New York Chapter of WTS invites eligible women to apply for the scholarships listed below. WTS also offers free student memberships for full-time students (with proof of enrollment). Join today at https://www.wtsinternational.org.
Frequently Asked Questions:
-Are international students eligible? Yes.
-Do applicants need to be WTS members? No. WTS encourages applicants to be members. It is free for students.
-Can students apply to more than 1 scholarship? Yes.
-For first-year graduate students who do not yet have a GPA, can they provide something else showing they have a 3.0 GPA or higher? Yes, please provide your cumulative undergraduate GPA.
-Can previous scholarship recipients apply again? Yes.
Graduate Scholarships:
- Helene M. Overly Memorial Scholarship / GNY: Leonard Braun Memorial Scholarship for $5,000 is awarded to encourage women to pursue career paths in transportation.
- National Leadership Legacy Award for $3,000 is awarded to a student, pursuing a graduate degree in transportation or a related field, who demonstrates leadership skills and an active commitment to community service.
- Infra Tech S. David Ali Memorial Graduate Scholarship for $2,500 is awarded to an enterprising young woman who reflects qualities of dedication and commitment to hard work and excellence regardless of obstacles and difficulties.
Undergraduate Scholarships:
- Sharon D. Banks Memorial / GNY: Susan Miszkowicz Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship for $4,000 is awarded to encourage bright new professionals to undertake careers in transportation and related fields.
- Susan L. Kupferman Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship for $3,000 is awarded to New York City undergraduate students who graduated from a New York City public high school and is interested in undertaking careers in the field of transportation and related fields.
- Molitoris Leadership Scholarship for Undergraduates for $4,000 is awarded to a woman that demonstrates leadership skills, ability and interest in the field of transportation and related fields.
- Community College/Technical/Trade Degree Scholarship for $2,500 is awarded to encourage women to pursue career paths in transportation.
- Infra Tech S. David Ali Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship for $1,000 is awarded to an enterprising young woman who reflects qualities of dedication and commitment to hard work and excellence regardless of obstacles and difficulties.
High School Scholarships:
- Transportation YOU High School Scholarship for $1,500 is awarded to an outstanding high school student interested in undertaking careers in transportation and studying math, science, engineering or technology.
https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/greater-new-york/scholarships
Eligible female applicants must meet the following criteria:
● GPA of 3.0 or higher, proof of transcript
● Enrolled in or accepted to a degree program in a transportation-related
field, such as engineering, planning and logistics, in NY or NJ
● Special criteria as noted on the individual application forms
Applicants may apply to multiple scholarships if they meet the required criteria. Recipients of select scholarships may advance to the National competition as noted on the individual application form.
To access a scholarship application please click on the name of the scholarship above.
Please email the completed application (as a PDF package including all required forms, statements, transcripts, etc.) or any additional questions to: wtsgnyscholarship@gmail.com.
WTS-GNY 2022 Scholarship Recipients
LEONARD BRAUN MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Sevin Mohammadi is a PhD student in Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics department at Columbia University. She holds an MS in Transportation Engineering from the University of Tennessee Knoxville, where she was the vice president of the Women's Transportation Seminars (WTS) school chapter and social director of the Institute of Transportation Engineers student chapter. Her research is at the intersection of transportation engineering, smart cities, and operational research, where she develops statistical machine learning methods. As a PhD student, Sevin was one of the members of the Columbia Engineering researchers who teamed up with the Fire Department of New York to optimize the New York ambulance response during the pandemic. Sevin and her colleagues were among the finalists of the 2021 INFORMS Doing Good with Good OR Student Paper Competition. Sevin enjoys biking, exercising, and reading books in her leisure time.

PAULA HAMMOND LEADERSHIP LEGACY SCHOLARSHIP
Kara Gurl is a third-year graduate student at Hunter College pursuing her Master’s degree in Urban Planning with a concentration in Transportation. She is a lifelong New Yorker and transit rider who plans to use her career and education to improve the city’s regional public transit network. Kara is the Research and Communications Associate at the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA (PCAC), where she helps advocate for transit riders around the MTA region. Kara has over 8 years of experience in advocacy and organizing on her Community Board, in local government, and on political campaigns. She received her undergraduate degree in Urban Studies from Columbia University and has conducted research and writing on transportation issues including the benefits of congestion pricing, the cost of low transit ridership, improving micromobility options, and increasing community participation in the planning process. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, riding Citi Bikes, and exploring New York City.

MOLITORIS LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP FOR UNDERGRADUATES
Amanda Klepper is a senior at Columbia University studying Civil Engineering, concentrating in Structural Engineering and Construction Management. She is also pursuing minors in Architecture and Dance. Following her sophomore year, Amanda took a gap year, during which she was a structural engineering intern with a bridge design group at WSP. During the summer before her senior year, she interned with HNTB in a project management consultant group working on ADA accessibility upgrades to subway stations across New York City. After graduation, Amanda plans to pursue her Master’s degree in Structural Engineering, and has a goal of achieving her P.E. license. At school, she contributed to a NYSERDA funded research project investigating the performance of carbonated recycled cement paste in cement mixes. She is also the events coordinator for Columbia’s ASCE Student Chapter, and recently attended the ASCE Student Days conference where her team placed second in the proposal competition. In her free time, she enjoys dancing, surfing, hiking, and playing her electric bass and guitar.

SHARON D. BANKS MEMORIAL/GNY: SUSAN MISZKOWICZ MEMORIAL UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP
Lillian Moy is a junior studying Civil Engineering at Hofstra University. During her sophomore year, she conducted research on the rapid prototyping of small-scale models using 3D printing pens with Professor Segal. Moy has also interned with Turner Construction as a field engineer responsible for processing submittals, coordinating with trades, and more at two healthcare project sites. Currently, she is interning in Turner Construction’s VDC/BIM department where she assists VDC engineers with developing logistics and animations for sales pursuits. Moy values mentorship and has served as Hofstra’s SWE mentorship chair, volunteered at SCALE RULE’s concept design workshops, and works as a tutor for high school and college students. After graduation, Moy hopes to become an integral contributor to the design and construction of major city infrastructure. During her leisure time, she enjoys biking and pottery.

TECHNICAL/TRADE DEGREE SCHOLARSHIP
Jalise Matthew is a third-year undergraduate student at Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology majoring in Airport Management and minoring in Air Traffic Control, seeking to become an Air Traffic Controller in the near future. Matthew has a background in business, obtaining an Associate of Science in Business Administration at the Antigua and Barbuda International Institute of Technology, which is located in her hometown of Antigua. Being a recent inductee into the National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS) and a Resident Assistant (RA), she has obtained leadership, communication, and decision-making skills, through training and practice, to be an efficient and effective leader. Between attending classes and working as an RA, Matthew also makes time to work part-time in the library at her school as a Reference and Information Services Assistant. Her main duties include checking in, labeling and re-shelving books. For the past year, Jalise has sought to gather a group of females to start a female soccer team while participating in the Women are Warriors athletic program at her school. During her free time, she enjoys partaking in physical fitness activities, cooking, dancing, and talking to others.

INFRA TECH S. DAVID ALI MEMORIAL GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP
Farnoosh Namdarpour is a Ph.D. candidate in Transportation Planning and Engineering at New York University (NYU) and a recipient of Tandon School of Engineering Fellowship. She holds a Master of Science degree in Transportation Planning and Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology where she worked on “Travel Mode Detection of Smartphone Data Using Genetic Programming” in her thesis. Prior to joining NYU, she worked as a Java programming intern at Barazaman Venture Builder and as a data scientist at YapAiTek to enhance her professional skills. Farnoosh believes that there exist tremendous potentials in improving transportation systems due to the emerging transportation technologies, data sources, and advancements in artificial intelligence techniques. By utilizing these developments and available tools, her goal is to promote sustainability and mobility. She is currently a member of WTS and YPT, and in her free time, she enjoys watching movies, photography and hiking.

INFRA TECH S. DAVID ALI MEMORIAL UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP
My name is Julisa Arteaga and I am currently a junior pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering at Manhattan College. This year, I have been on Dean's List for maintaining a GPA above 3.4. As a board member of the ASCE of City College, I contributed to organizing trips where students had the opportunity to get a first hand experience of how projects are structured and played out on the field. The two locations we organized a trip to were NYSDOT Hunt’s Point Corridor and the Manhattan West Project at Hudson Yards. In addition to being a board member to the ASCE, I also worked on a couple of projects using QGIS software and AutoCAD. On one project, I used QGIS to map out all medical centers in Queens using geospatial data. In a separate project, I went surveying using a total station, and used QGIS to map out placement for a chicken coop, which my group and I later designed using AutoCAD. I am passionate about improving people's quality of life using civil engineering. During my free time, I enjoy reading a good book and playing guitar.
