FHWA Works: Employee Spotlight - James Pol, P.E., PMP

Full Name: James Pol, P.E., PMP
Title: Technical Director, Safety Research
Division/Department: Office of Safety and Operations R&D
Location (City/State): McLean, VA

1. How long have you been in your role and how did you choose this transportation field?
   I’ve been in this position for eight years, and with FHWA for 23 years. I’ve been interested in transportation overall since childhood. I grew up in Queens, NY near LaGuardia Airport, so exposure to subways, planes overhead, and two major expressways (the Long Island Expressway and Van Wyck) was my everyday experience. I saw the significance of our transportation network to keep a city as large as NYC up and running. I also saw, from the Great Blackout of 1977, how vulnerable our infrastructure can be.

2. What do you find interesting about your job and what do you do on a daily basis?
   My career with this agency has been rewarding in ways expected and unexpected. I truly admire everyone that I work with, and I’m always impressed with the caliber of expertise that everyone brings. The commitment that my peers in research, the Resource Center, and the Safety Program office bring to the safety mission of reaching zero deaths inspire me. My day-to-day work is aimed at elevating the state of the practice and working with others to think creatively about what new methods we can try.

3. What has been your biggest accomplishment over the last year?
   I’m very proud of the work my colleagues and I have made to establish the Path to Advanced Novel Data Analytics (PANDA) Lab. This is a general-purpose, data-science focused laboratory that will bring artificial intelligence and machine learning tools so we can analyze data from diverse traditional and non-traditional sources. The opportunity here is to create new methods that can be refined for use among our stakeholders. Establishing PANDA will help FHWA’s Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center and FHWA grow its national leadership role over the next few decades.

4. Prior to working at FHWA, what was the most unusual or interesting job you've ever had?
   I started my career as an Engineering Trainee in the Florida DOT - District 7 (Tampa Bay). I was assigned to bridge inspection, including an underwater bridge inspection crew. Let’s just say I have a healthy respect for alligators, but I don’t fear them like I fear water moccasins. I’ve never been charged at by an alligator, but water moccasins attacked on three occasions. I wouldn’t be alive now if it wasn’t for steel-toed boots.

5. What are your hobbies in your spare time?
   I really enjoy outdoor activities like camping, hiking, kayaking, and bicycling. I go to Delaware frequently with my partner, Vince, and I’ve managed to complete a couple of “half-centuries” (these are 50-mile bike rides) in the past two years. I love to read, and my genres tend to revolve. I just finished the Three-Body Problem series by Liu Cixin. It’s interesting to read science fiction from a Chinese author and get a different perspective.

6. What is one of the biggest lessons you have learned in your career to get you where you are today?
   I've had the good fortune of great leadership in my career. I think what I learned most from them was one has to have integrity and focus. Have the courage to zero in on the heart of the matter, and be honest with yourself and others about your role.

7. Who do you admire in the transportation field and why?
   I admire the people who crew construction, maintenance, survey, etc. Without them, their field expertise, their perseverance - we wouldn’t have anything built.

8. Complete this sentence: "People would be surprised if they knew..."
   English is my second language. Although I was born in NYC, my parents and siblings were immigrants from Argentina and we only spoke Spanish at home. I didn’t know any English until I started kindergarten.