pacific nw transportation consortium region 10 Pactrans

Today we’re spotlighting Pranav Manem, one of our upcoming 2024-2025 PacTrans Graduate Fellows starting in Fall 2024. Pranav has always been a problem-solver whether it was as a consultant, product manager, or acro yoga-enthusiast! He wants to bring that type of creative thinking when it comes to the development of public and multi-modal forms of transit for sustainability, health and economic reasons. Congrats on starting yout Transportation Masters with our consortium partner, University of Washington.

What’s your current role?
I am a Product Manager at OneTrust in Atlanta, Georgia.

What’s your favorite college memory?
Technically this was right after graduation, but I spent six weeks volunteering in Rabat, Morocco. I met people from all over the world, fasted during Ramadan, rode a camel in the Sahara, and even got stung by a scorpion!

What’s your career path been like and what are some career goals?
Upon graduating from Georgia Tech, I started at NCR in their rotational program as an analyst. After two years on various teams, I joined the Retail Transformation practice as an industry consultant. In 2022, I moved over to OneTrust where I was a strategy analyst for a year and am now a product manager on the Third Party Management team. In early 2023, I made the decision that the problems I want to solve reside in the realm of transportation, where I would like to develop public and multi-modal forms of transit for sustainability, health and economic reasons. Longer term, I also find the idea of being the director of a local DOT to be extremely appealing! 

What’s your greatest professional accomplishment?
Recently I was promoted from an Associate Product Manager to a Product Manager. While I don’t put too much stock in titles, this change has given me a bit more confidence in my ability to manage continuously improving systems that require working with various stakeholders, and I believe this will be a valuable skill to have for a career in transportation.

How will PacTrans benefit you?
I believe the most significant way PacTrans will benefit me and my career is providing exposure to the industry in the Pacific Northwest. I am extremely excited to meet transportation professionals as well as learn about all the research and innovative development being done in the region.

What are some hobbies or interests you have? A fun fact?
As a relatively active person, I spend a lot of my time playing soccer, doing acro yoga, working out, doing obstacle course races, and bouldering. I also ride motorcycles, listen to podcasts, read, play board games, do jigsaw puzzles, and follow the NFL and Premier League! Fun fact: In 6th grade, I attended a boarding school at a yoga center in India. 

Want to know more about Pranav? Connect with him on LinkedIn!

About the PacTrans Graduate Fellowship

The PacTrans Fellowship is focused on students interested in pursuing a master’s degree and with aspirations of being industry leaders in the transportation field. In addition to receiving a quality education, PacTrans fellows also participate in an internship, allowing for their knowledge obtained in the classroom to be supplemented with practical knowledge of the transportation industry.