Intown Chapter’s Quarterly Happy Hour – Atlanta, Georgia

Intown Chapter’s Quarterly Happy Hour – Atlanta, Georgia
What: Intown Chapter’s Quarterly Happy Hour
When: Thursday, September 14th / 6pm to 8pm (Presentation starts @ 6:30pm)
This event is FREE and open to the public / No registration required / All Welcome
Presentation Description: Train derailments involving passenger cars or hazardous materials has been a potential threat to public safety with the increased traffic on our roadways and railways, and the intersection of both. In 2008 Congress mandated that American railroads develop technology to automatically stop a train that is detected to be traveling in an unsafe manner. This technology, Positive Train Control (PTC), is harnessing all the technology of the 21st Century to make our railways even safer. GIS technology is the starring role in PTC technology, as it binds all the data together into one onboard file for the engineer to engage. Come to our happy hour on September 14th to hear the challenges Norfolk Southern has faced in creating PTC technology, and how NSGIS has met all of these challenges with innovative scripting tools and comprehensive QA workflows to deliver concrete rail topologies meeting annual federal mandates.
Presenter’s Bio: Ona Strikas began her love affair with GIS while studying Environmental Science and Public Policy at Harvard University for her Bachelor’s degree. She then followed her environmental passion out west to work in salmon restoration in Washington State. Thereafter selecting and completing a Master’s Degree in Geography at Florida State University with a Master’s thesis describing the spatial statistics of airmass-thunderstorm-produced lightning over North Georgia. She has specialized in vector data, and linear referenced systems, by way of hydrology and transportation research projects. Ona joined Norfolk Southern Engineering Department’s Positive Train Control GIS team in January 2017, her most fulfilling GIS occupation to date.

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