Attending the IHEEP Conference as an Undergraduate Student
Written by Outreach Committee Member and Civil Engineering Student Olivia Spencer
The International Highway Engineering Exchange Program, or IHEEP, is an annual conference that brings together Department of Transportation (DOT) and related employees from all over the United States to discuss the future of transportation. The conference is made up of many sessions from Building Information Modeling to American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) standards to drones and elevation mapping. Tucked into the weekly schedules of conference sessions and outings is a competitive Educator and Student Program that seeks to build closer ties with academia in order to enhance the field of transportation.
As a student at Clemson University, I have spent each and every semester a part of a service program entitled Clemson Engineers for Developing Communities where we work on resilience building throughout the state of South Carolina and the countries of Haiti, Colombia, and Ecuador. As a part of our work with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, we spent significant time mapping the elevations of bridges, highways, and roads using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in order to assess flood vulnerability in low-capacity communities. As a member of the organization and an intern with our community resilience initiatives, I was selected by Clemson Engineers for Developing Communities to represent our work at the IHEEP Conference in Des Moines, Iowa in September of 2024.
This was my first official conference as an undergraduate student that was not holistically part of academia, but was instead almost purely made up of industry professionals. From the moment I stepped into the conference hotel, it was impossible not to feel a sense of imposter syndrome because I was the youngest there by far, and the only attendee of undergraduate status. Despite this difference and the inevitable ‘imposter’ feeling as a woman in an engineering field, I was immediately welcomed by all of the DOT employees and members of the Student Program with open arms. The first night I was invited to the suite at the top of the hotel and got to meet professionals from all over the United States and a few of my colleagues that were also competing in the student program.
In the following days, I attended sessions from many different engineers regarding the success of projects from almost every state in the US. I was able to take a number of ideas with me back my home organization, including better project management and leadership methods and ideas for drone usage in the field of Humanitarian Engineering. I was thoroughly impressed with the level of planning and organization that went into each session, let alone the entire conference itself. We were even invited to after-hours events like dinners and axe-throwing that contributed to the positive nature of the entire experience.
Eventually, it came time for me to present with the other students in the Student Program. In the moments leading up to my presentation, I was very nervous as my colleagues were all in graduate school so I naturally felt like I had a lack of experience in the conference setting. However when I got on the stage, I felt a sense of comfort and respect from the audience that allowed me to relax and easily explain our usage of Digital Elevation Maps (DEMs) and our contribution to community resilience as a collegiate organization. I was asked wonderful questions from the judges and the audience that allowed me to expand on my own passions in the field of Humanitarian Engineering, the operation of our organization, and our intentions to expand our research and maintain data to be consistently used by South Carolina residents.
On the night of the Awards Ceremony, I was not expecting much but was still so delighted to be present at the conference. We had a wonderful dinner and got to hear about the 2025 IHEEP Conference and what it would entail in the city of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. When it got to the Student Program Awards, my name was called for 2nd place meaning a $700 scholarship to contribute to my education and to further my research as an undergraduate student. It was such an honor to be able to represent the work of Clemson Engineers for Developing Communities and share it with professionals from around the country. Overall, my time at the 2024 IHEEP Conference was fantastic and I would highly recommend it to any student that is interested in presenting their work to transportation professionals. Thank you IHEEP for a wonderful time and to Girls in Civil for letting me share my experience!
Look below for my presentation at the conference!