Mark Kopko- Sr.

Civil Engineer

Mark Kopko was recently named Special Advisor to the Secretary for Transformational
Technology, a newly created position for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. With this
being a new position based on PennDOT’s leadership role in the automated and connected vehicles,
Kopko can contribute his knowledge and skills to better the future of the transportation industry.

Prior to Kopko working for PennDOT, he started in the constructive unit at District 8, managed
the 511PA Travel System, worked with the INREX data program and managed a partnership with Waze.
His previous jobs left him with additional working experience that he now carries on to the PennDOT
community.

Kopko’s current position as the Senior Civil Engineer for Highway Administration was created
due to the increase of technology within the transportation industry. This position sparked his interest
because of the new developing technologies that are growing within the transportation industry. Kopko
was able to adapt to the new changes and technology that came along with this position.

Kopko works with various technology systems across multiple deputies as well as public
transportation, drivers licensing and providing future insight for the industry itself. His role is to be a
subject and aid to businesses throughout the area. He enjoys his work and claims that he has “the best
job in the department.” Kopko has had opportunities to meet with larger companies such as Google,
Apple, Ford, and Toyota. Although, he mostly enjoys the technology and automotive side.

There are some difficulties that come along with Kopko’s job, but he finds several solutions to
overcome them. Since the position was just created, everything is new to not only himself but the entire
department. Therefore, everything he does has not been done before. He teaches himself and became
accustomed to using different approaches than others have used. As a result, he receives mostly
positive responses. Kopko is the most senior in his field, so his responsibility entails learning a whole
different area that no one in the department can deal with. To overcome the challenges that come
along with his job, he takes advantage of partnerships with academic institutions within the state, other
DOTs and the turnpike commission. Kopko stays actively involved at the national level to gain more
knowledge through national research projects.

Kopko is optimistic about PennDOT’s future with automated and connected vehicles. The
overarching goal is to continue to be a national leader in transportation technology and picture the
benefits that come along with the new technology. To figure out the best possible ways to gain
acceptance from the public, we must figure out the new developing technology changes within our
transportation industry now, so people become more accustomed and adapt to the new changes
overtime as well.

The Pennsylvania Automated Vehicle Summit gives the opportunity to join department
secretaries and various industry leaders to focus on the effects of how automated vehicles will
determine local planning and economic development, workforce education and training, and safety.
With our efforts with the Automated Vehicle Summit, the event will be held in September of this year.
The core idea of the summit is the interactive relationship between the subject-matter experts and the
decision-makers, opinion leaders, and engaged citizens who participated from the state.