MTU Technical Writer Honored By TAMC

May 25, 2018 — The Michigan Transportation Asset Management Council (TAMC) has honored Victoria Sage with the 2018 TAMC Carmine Palombo Individual Award.

The award was presented by TAMC Chair Joanna Johnson and past TAMC Chair Carmine Palombo at the annual TAMC Spring Conference on Tuesday, May 22, in Traverse City, Michigan.

Victoria (Vicki) is a Technical Writer at the Center for Technology and Training at Michigan Technological University; Vicki is also the Editor of the Michigan Local Technical Assistance Program’s The Bridge newsletter.

Vicki’s work in these roles has been a great service to the TAMC in that many of Vicki’s efforts advance the strategies of the TAMC Work Program through key training and educational initiatives for professionals at local transportation agencies. Vicki has also provided leadership and advocacy of asset management principals as well as communicating relevant programs of the TAMC and transportation agencies across Michigan in helping develop stories in The Bridge newsletter.

In 2015, the TAMC renamed the Individual Achievement Award in honor of Carmine Palombo for his years of service and dedication to the TAMC representing the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG). The TAMC awards individuals that have demonstrated outstanding support in implementing one or more of the following categories: demonstrated knowledge of transportation asset management, advocacy and support of asset management principles, and demonstrated leadership and vision.

One of the driving factors in Vicki’s nomination for this award was her role in  development of the TAMC Bridge Asset Management Workshop. Using innovative features of common desktop software, Vicki transformed the TAMC training into a focused workshop to quickly and easily create a bridge asset management plan for students attending the training.

“Vicki had a vision to improve the creation of bridge asset management plans, and she developed an innovative way to use everyday tools to help the workshop attendees,” said TAMC Bridge Committee Chair, Beckie Curtis. “This innovation has been a game changer in terms of what can be accomplished in the training workshops and making it even easier for people to have
a document that they can then use to organize treatments in a way that is financially manageable.”

Transportation asset management is a process of managing public assets, such as roads and bridges, based on the long-range condition of the entire transportation system. TAMC, created in 2002 by the Michigan Legislature, promotes the concept that the transportation system is unified, rather than separated by jurisdictional ownership. Its mission is to recommend an asset
management strategy to the State Transportation Commission and the Michigan Legislature for all of Michigan’s roads and bridges.