Peggy talks about urbanization and how technology is going to support population growth, pointing to examples such as monitoring water quality, air quality, and pollution level. She digs into a movement called Cittaslow, which is the idea that slowing down is better when it comes to quality of life in a city. She explains that we need to deploy purposeful solutions that keep the end goal in mind and that for smart cities, the end goal is creating livable places where people can thrive.

Peggy and Stephanie Slocum, founder, Engineers Rising LLC, engage in a conversation about the role of women in engineering careers. They talk about the labor shortage and how we can get more women involved in the trades and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

Peggy and Michelle Anderson, director of operations, The National Road Safety Foundation, talk about the change that is happening today and leading to more distracted driving; not to mention how it is becoming an epidemic. They discuss the emerging FOMO (fear of missing out) syndrome and just how dangerous this is becoming when sitting behind the wheel of a car. Anderson discusses how it is raising awareness in the hope of getting more advocates to come together to address it.

Peggy shares that the percentage of people clustered around urban centers is globally going to grow from 55% to 68% by 2050—which is going to bring new and exacerbated transportation challenges. She explains how one DOT (Dept. of Transportation) is developing relief plans to address congestion issues with the IoT (Internet of Things). She says technology is opening the door for new types of traffic-management solutions.

Peggy and Praveen Edara, professor of civil and environmental engineering, University of Missouri, discuss a recent research project that looks at naturalistic driving. He explains that we need behavior-counter measures to reduce distracted driving—especially in work zones. He says that while it is one of the biggest, cellphones are just one of many distractions that drivers experience.