2009 – 2010

Institute of Transportation EngineersANNUAL REPORT OF STUDENT CHAPTER ACTIVITIES

From April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010

STUDENT CHAPTER OF: Texas A&M University1. STUDENT CHAPTER OFFICERSPresident: Kristopher BallVice-President for Technical Activities: Myunghoon KoVice-President for Outreach: Rolando AyalaCorresponding Secretary: Jinpeng LvMembership Secretary: Adam KaliszewskiTreasurer: Feng WanLibrarian: Ridwan Quaium2. STUDENT CHAPTER MEMBERSHIPNumber of Student Chapter members: 74Number of Student members of the Institute: 24Number of Students eligible to be a Student member of the Institute: 74Number of faculty members who are current ITE members: 53. INFORMATION ON TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING ENROLLMENTNumber of undergraduate students (Sophomore-Senior years) in Civil Engineering Department

Full Time: 897 Part Time: 29Does your curriculum allow an undergraduate student to major or minor in Transportation?

Yes; 15 undergraduate students majoring in TransportationNumber of Graduate Students in Transportation

Full Time: 51 Part Time: 04. SUMMARY OF STUDENT CHAPTER ACTIVITIES5. ROSTER OF STUDENT CHAPTER MEMBERS

Report Submitted by: Contents Approved by:

Kristopher Ball, TAMUite Student Chapter President Dr. Gene Hawkins, Student Chapter AdvisorPhone: (734) 972-3984E-Mail: k-ball@ttimail.tamu.eduDate: April 1, 2010

President’s Message

Howdy! As President of the Texas A&M University Student Chapter of the Institute of

Transportation Engineers (TAMUite), I am pleased to submit our 2009-2010 Annual Report of the

Student Chapter Activities. By the numbers it has been a very busy yet exciting 12 months for

TAMUite: 11 technical meetings hosted by the Chapter, three Chapter-sponsored field trips to

transportation related facilities across Texas, and 146 hours of data collection for technical projects.

Among the highlights of the last year:

•The ITE Annual Meeting held in San Antonio, TX

•Visits to TAMUite by several members of the ITE Executive Board such as: Paul Eng-Wong-

International President, Robert Wunderlich-Internatonal Vice-President, Tom Voigt

International-Past-President, and Tom Brahms-ITE Executive Director

•The TAMUite Collegiate Traffic Bowl team winning the Texas District championship at the

TexITE winter meeting in Frisco, TX

The future of TAMUite is bright indeed. As Chapter President, I plan to continue our efforts to

ensure that any Texa A&M student with an interest in transportation is connected with TAMUite.

Also, I am excited about TAMUite participating in the 2010 ITE Annual Meeting, which will be held

in Vancouver, BC

I would like to acknowledge the contributions of TAMUite Past-President Sunil Patil for his

leadership during the caledar year of 2009 and TAMUite Faculty Advisor Dr. Gene Hawkins for his

continued support and guidance. Most importantly, I would like to thank all the TAMUite members,

whose enthusiastic participation in Chapter activities makes TAMUite the great organization that it

is.

Kristopher Ball

President, Texas A&M University ITE Student Chapter

Business Meetings

TAMUite schedules monthly technical meetings for its members in order to increase the technical knowledge base of the membership, provide them

with opportunities to interact with local and international professionals and researchers, fellowship with other members of the chapter, and to build

a strong base for participation in professional sections of the Institute. Meetings are generally held once per month with 20 to 50 students in

attendance. Technical meetings are also open to faculty, staff, members of professional ITE sections, as well as students from other academic

disciplines. Meetings feature a speaker making a presentation on a technical topic of relevance to the membership body and free food is served to

all attending members. This past year, technical meetings for TAMUite have featured speakers from across Texas and International locations. The

topics covered at the meetings ranged from how to start your own consulting firm to highway barrier crash testing. We believe that our technical

meetings are an asset to TAMUite as well as all Texas A&M Civil Engineering students.

Technical Meetings

April 28, 2009 “Bryan District Projects/Stimulus Update” Bob Appleton, P.E., TxDOT – Bryan District

The April general chapter meeting featured Mr. Bob Appleton from TxDOT – Bryan District.

His presentation entitled “Bryan District Projects/Stimulus Update” gave an overview on the

status of major projects in the Bryan/College Station area including projects that were funded

under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Mr.Appleton also discussed the

various collaborative efforts between TxDOT, local governments, and consultants that work

to keep Texas moving.

June 9, 2009 “Traffic Management for Special Events (Texas Reds Festival)” Dale Picha P.E., City of Bryan

At the June 2009 general chapter meeting Mr. Dale Picha from the City of Bryan gave a

presentation on local traffic engineering and operational issues associated with street

closures for the Texas Reds Festival, a festival in downtown Bryan that draws 20,000 guests

annually. This meeting served as a primer for participation by members of TAMUite in traffic

control at the festival.

• December 12, 2009: General Elections for All Officer Positions

June 30, 2009 “Getting the Most out of the Annual Meeting” Brian Bochner, P.E., Texas Transportation Institute

The August 2009 general chapter meeting featured Mr. Brian Bochner, former ITE

International President, from Texas Transportation Institute as a speaker. This meeting

served as a primer for the ITE Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas on August 9-12, 2009.

Mr. Bochner shared his experiences with TAMUite in attending the ITE Annual Meeting and

identified eight venues at the meeting where student members could learn, network, identify

job opportunities, or simply have fun.

August 6, 2009 “Safety and Transportation Efficiency in New Zealand” Peter McCombs, P.E., ITE International District Director

Mr. Peter McCombs, ITE International District Director, was the speaker for the August 2009

general chapter meeting. He provided TAMUite with a presentation on “Safety and

Transportation Efficiency in New Zealand”. His presentation featured information regarding

road safety audits and how road safety is considered at all stages of a transportation project in

New Zealand. This meeting also had several distinguished guests in attendance from within

ITE such as Paul Eng-Wong – ITE President, Ken Voigt – ITE Past President, Robert R.

Wunderlich – ITE Vice President, and Tom Brahms – ITE Executive Director.

September 8, 2009 “Innovative Technologies for Traffic Analysis” Jim Dale, PTV America

The September 2009 general chapter meeting featured Mr. Jim Dale from PTV America

offering an overview presentation on VISSIM, a widely used traffic analysis package

developed by PTV America. Mr. Dale gave an overview of many of the applications of

VISSIM, including the pedestrian analysis and railroad coordination capabilities of this

software package. This meeting followed a one hour VISSIM tutorial given to TAMUite

members by Mr. Dale.

October 6, 2009 “Transportation Careers and ITE” Mr. Robert Wunderlich, P.E., ITE Vice-President/City of Garland

Mr. Robert Wunderlich, current ITE International Vice-President, was the featured speaker

at the October 2009 general chapter meeting. Mr. Wunderlich gave TAMUite his perspective

on how ITE can impact a career—whether it be through networking or expanding your

technical knowledge base. Mr. Wunderlich brought his personal experiences from work in

the public sector as well as work in the private sector.

November 10, 2009 “Starting Your Own Consulting Firm” Rachel Hayden, P.E., Hayden Consulting

Mrs. Rachel Hayden was the featured speaker at the November 2009 general chapter

meeting. Her presentation entitled “Starting Your Own Consulting Firm” gave TAMUite a

firsthand perspective on some of the opportunities and challenges associated with starting

your own transportation engineering firm as well as gave an overview of some of the

interesting projects that Mrs. Hayden’s firm has worked on.

December 9, 2009 “Career Advice for Young Professionals” Matt Sneed, E.I.T., Kimley-Horn Associates

The December 2009 meeting doubled as a general chapter meeting as well as a study break

for students during the finals period. Mr. Matt Sneed, a recent graduate of the master’s

program at Texas A&M led a discussion on the consulting environment for young engineers

and how young engineers can improve their prospects for employment and advancement

early in their careers.

January 26, 2010 “Safety in the Highway Environment” William Williams, P.E. – Texas Transportation Institute

At the January 2010 general chapter meeting, Mr. William Williams, P.E. of the Texas

Transportation Institute Crashworthy Structures Program gave a presentation on “Safety in

the Highway Environment”. Specifically, Mr. Williams provided TAMUite with an overview

of how much roadside safety has improved in the United States over the past 50 years from

the standpoint of accidents and lives lost as well as improvements in roadside safety devices.

His presentation concluded with video of a number of full-scale roadside barrier crash tests.

February 22, 2010 “Accident Reconstruction of Motor Vehicle Accidents” Dr. Mike James, Ph.D., P.E.

Dr. Mike James, Ph.D. P.E. of StressDynamics Inc. gave a presentation on accident

reconstruction methods at the February 2010 general chapter meeting. Dr. James spoke

about the reconstruction of vehicular crashes, including data collection at and away from the

scene, as well as accident reconstruction speed analysis techniques. Dr James also presented

a computer generated analysis of a re-created accident to the meeting attendees.

March 29, 2010 “Working for a City – Typical Traffic Job Duties and Projects” Elizabeth Ramirez, P.E. MITE

The March 2010 general chapter meeting featured a presentation by Elizabeth Ramirez, P.E.

from the City of Dallas entitled “Working for a City – Typical Traffic Job Duties and Projects”.

Mrs. Ramirez gave TAMUite a large city perspective on what they could expect in working for

a large municipality in terms of work requirements and project details. Specifically she spoke

about emerging technologies such as ArcGIS and Google Earth and how they apply to the

work of city engineers, as well as unique projects such as traffic management initiatives used

in the area of Fair Park that houses the Texas State Fair and The Cotton Bowl.

Technical Field TripsJune 12, 2009 City of Bryan Development Services Open House

In June 2009TAMUite members visited an open house held by the City of Bryan

Development Services office. The City of Bryan Development Services office includes the city

planning and building service divisions and provides citizens and development professionals

with the information and support that they need to develop and construct successful

residential and commercial properties. At this event, TAMUite members met the office’s

professional staff and learned about their day-to-day tasks.

September 17, 2009 TxDOT Dallas District Freeway Management Center and Signal Shop

In September 2009, the TAMUite participated in a tour of the TXDOT Dallas District Freeway

Management Center and Signal Shop. On this visit, members were given a tour of TxDOT

Dallas District’s freeway surveillance system and control room, given a tour of the Dallas

District signal repair shop, and provided an overview of some high level projects taking place

in the Dallas area such as the I-635 Expressway widening.

March 26, 2010 Texas Transportation Institute Crashworthy Structures Program Crash Test

In March 2010, members of TAMUite viewed a full scale vehicle crash test of a highway

bridge rail at Texas Transportation Institute’s Riverside Campus crash testing facility. In

addition to viewing the crash test, members were given an overview of crash testing methods

and analysis techniques.

Technical Conferences

Over the past year, the TAMUite has also participated in a number of technical conferences. In August 2009, the TAMUite traveled to

San Antonio, TX for the ITE Annual Meeting and was well represented. The 13 members in attendance included students James

Robertson and David Zeng who presented posters entitled: and former student chapter president Ben Sperry who won the Student of

the Year award. Members participated in a number of social and professional activities as well as attended the ITE Business Meeting.

The annual meeting was an excellent opportunity for members to become familiar with the international structure of ITE, network with

professionals and researchers, expand their technical knowledge base, and meet with other ITE student chapters.

In January 2010, TAMUite traveled to Frisco, TX, a suburb of Dallas for the TexITE Winter Meeting. The chapter was once again

well represented with 10 members in attendance and student members Mehdi Azimi and Rahul Goel making poster presentations and

student member Ben Sperry making an oral presentation. The student chapter also participated in the inaugural ITE Texas District

Collegiate Traffic Bowl, beating the Univesity of Texas-Arlington and the University of Texas-Austin to win the district championship.

The Texas A&M Collegiate Traffic Bowl team will proudly represent the Texas District in the international Collegiate Traffic Bowl

competition at the ITE Annual Meeting in Vancouver, BC. In March 2010, several members of TAMUite traveled to Winedale, TX for

the Southwest University Transportation Center (SWUTC) Student Conference. At the conference students from Texas

A&M University, the University of Texas-Austin, and Texas Southern University came together to share their ideas about the future of

the transportation engineering world in a number of topic areas.

In addition to ITE meetings, TAMUite also attended the TRB Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. where several members made

poster and oral presentations.

ITE Annual Meeting ,San Antonio, TX ITE Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX TRB Annual Meeting, Washington D.C.

TexITE Winter Meeting, Frisco, TX TexITE Winter Meeting, Frisco, TX TexITE Winter Meeting, Frisco, TX

Technical ProjectsTAMUite participated in a host of technical activities throughout the year. Members worked with local professionals Joe Blashke of

Traffic Engineering Analysts and Dale Picha from the City of Bryan, as well as professionals from other Houston such as Sean Merrell

from Brown & Gay Associates as they performed manual turning movement counts in College Station and Bryan. These manual

turning movement counts occurred in the Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 semesters and had a total of 29 participating students. Through

these events, student members gained firsthand experience on how manual turning movement counts are performed.

This past year the TAMUite was also one of five schools chosen to participate in the ITE trip generation study. Participating in the

study for the fourth year in a row, TAMUite members, in conjunction with graduate and undergraduate students from two different

courses, collected trip generation data of two different land uses. In the fall of 2009, 4 TAMUite members were aided by 10 students

from an undergraduate transportation planning course in the Civil Engineering department as they collected trip generation data on

student-oriented apartment communities. In the spring of 2010, 6 TAMUite members were aided by 12 graduate students in a

transportation design studio in the urban planning department as the collected trip generation data on gas stations with convenience

markets.

Liaison With Other ITE Groups

TAMUite highly values liaison with other ITE groups and encourages its members to participate in liaison activities. Members of the

student chapter regularly attend regular Brazos Valley ITE (BVITE) section meetings. These meetings provide members with

opportunities to enhance their technical knowledge, network with area professionals, and gain an understanding of how professional

sections of ITE operate. Over the past year, the TAMUite has also attended other events such as the TTI/ITE reception for the

International Board after the Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX, a joint meeting of the Dallas and Fort Worth ITE sections,

as well as the ITE reception at the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. At the ITE

reception during the TRB Annual Meeting students from the TAMUite met with students from chapters across all ITE districts as well

as important figures from ITE such as International President Paul Eng-Wong, candidates for International Vice-President, as well as

many former past International Presidents.

Dallas / Fort Worth Section Meeting TTI/ITE Reception ITE Reception at TRB Annual Meeting

Service Activities

Beginning in 2001, TAMUite has participated in adopt-a-highway cleanups as sponsored by the Texas Department of

Transportation – Bryan District. TAMUite is responsible for litter cleanup on a two-mile stretch of Farm-to-Market (F.M) road

1687 in western Brazos County. This section of roadway is a primary recreational route for Lake Bryan and provides direct access for

rural residents of the area to downtown Bryan. TAMUite participated in adopt-a-highway cleanups on April 4, June 27, October 3, and

November 14. The November 14 cleanup was a joint effort with the Chi-Epsilon student group. After the cleanup, members are

treated to lunch at CiCi’s Pizza. TAMUite participated in traffic control activities at the Texas Reds Festival in downtown

Bryan, TX. As stated earlier, the Texas Reds Festival is a festival in downtown Bryan that draws 20,000 visitors annually. TAMUite

successfully worked to fill 16 two-hour shifts for traffic control at the festival. TAMUite participated in the 28th annual incarnation of

The Big Event at Texas A&M University on March 27, 2010. The event is the largest one day, student run, service project in the

nation. This event is an opportunity for the students of the university to come together and say “Thank You” to the residents of Bryan

and College Station. Student groups that participate are given a service task requested by members of community. This year, 9

members of the student chapter performed several gardening and painting tasks for a homeowner in Bryan, TX.

Social Activities

Adopt-a-Highway Cleanup Traffic Control at Texas Reds Festival The Big Event

TAMUite participates in a number of social activities throughout the calendar year. In May 2, 2009, members of the chapter gathered

at Hensel Park in College Station, TX for an end of the semester cookout. TAMUite provided hamburgers, hot dogs, and

gardenburgers while student members were encouraged to bring side dishes to share. On October 3, 2009, TAMUite advisor, Dr. H.

Gene Hawkins opened his home to the chapter for a barbecue cookout and to watch a football game between Texas A&M University

and the University of Arkansas. On November 14, 2009 TAMUite members and professors came together for a professor

appreciation potluck dinner. Many chapter members brought dishes from their native countries, providing a very diverse menu.

The potluck dinner was an opportunity for the students to say “thank you” to the professors. TAMUite also convenes after all adopt-a-

highway cleanups for a lunch at CiCi’s Pizza. The lunch serves as an excellent opportunity for student members to wind down after the

cleanup and socialize.

Hensel Park Cookout Professor Appreciation Potluck Adopt-a-Highway Lunch

Treasurer’s Report

Beginning Balance (9/01/2009) $14,043.54

Revenues for Performing Traffic Counts for City of Bryan $1,225.00

TAMU Civil Engineering Department $3,845.00

Membership Dues $71.00

Donation $250.00

ITE Field Trip Registration $230.00

Total Income $5,621.00

Payments to students for performing traffic counts -$1,212.50

General Meetings (Food and Refreshments) -$900.46

Winter TexITE Meeting, Frisco, TX -$1,733.27

Social Activities -$226.36

Fall Field Trip to Dallas/Fort Worth -$324.41

Administrative Expenses -$36.53

Excellence Fund Administration -$634.40

Total Expenses -$5,067.93

Ending Balance (3/31/2010) $14,596.61

Income

Expenses

Membership Roster-Bachelor’s Students

Last Name First Name Degree Graduation ITE International*Ash Brandon B.S. May 10 *

Ayala Rolando B.S. Dec 10 PendingBarkley Rebecca B.S. May 09 Pending

Campbell James B.S. May 10 *Clark Justin B.S. May 09 *Crump Andrew B.S. May 09 Pending

Ciarkowski Matt B.S. May 09 PendingEasterling Jordan B.S. Dec 09 Pending

Falconi Ryan B.S. May 10 *Gerbig Greg B.S. May 10 PendingGreiwe Ashley B.S. Aug 09 PendingGuice Karin B.S. May 09 Pending

Hemann Kelly B.S. Dec 10 PendingKaliszewski Adam B.S. May 11 Pending

Kranz Mark B.S. May 10 PendingMcCampbell Colten B.S. May 12 Pending

Miller Joel B.S. May 10 PendingNovak Domini B.S. May 09 Pending

Opgenorth Ryan B.S. May 10 PendingPrince Whitney B.S. Dec 10 Pending

Roberts Holly B.S. May 11 PendingSivils Katie B.S. May 11 Pending

Urquidi Jorge B.S. Dec 10 PendingWallin Kristen B.S. May 09 *Yates Andrew B.S. May 09 PendingZacha Clayton B.S. May 09 Pending

Membership Roster-Graduate Students

Last Name First Name Degree Graduation ITE International*Ball Kristopher M.S. Dec 10 *

Azimi Mehdi Ph.D. May 10 PendingBari Muhammad M.S. Dec 09 PendingCho Myunghoon Ph.D. Aug 12 *Cho Youngjae Ph.D. Aug 12 *Cho Kyoungmin M.S. Aug 09 Pending

Eurek Ryan M.S. May 09 PendingGeedipally Sirnivas Ph.D. Aug 09 Pending

Ghaffari Noushin Ph.D. May 11 PendingGoel Rahul M.S. May 10 *Kuo Pei-Fen Ph.D. May 10 *

Larsen Lisa M.S. Dec 10 PendingLe Thanh M.S. Dec 09 *

Levecy Charles-Edward M.S. Dec 10 PendingLee Jae Su Ph.D. Aug 09 PendingLi Xiugang Ph.D. Aug 09 PendingLi Ying M.E. Dec 10 *

Lieu Henry M.E. Dec 09 *Lim Kwangkyun M.S. Aug 09 Pending

Lowery John M.S. May 09 PendingLv Jinpeng Ph.D. Aug 12 Pending

Matoria Shailendra M.S. May 10 *Miao Qing M.S. Aug 10 *Nalli Karteeka M.S. May 09 *

Pandit Devanshukumar Ph.D. May 09 PendingPark Byung-Jung Ph.D. Aug 09 PendingPatil Suntil Ph.D. Aug 09 Pending

Paulus Susan M.S. Dec 09 PendingPersyn Andrew M.S. May 11 *

Membership Roster-Graduate Students

Last Name First Name Degree Graduation ITE International*Hein Pham M.S. May 09 Pending

Putha Rahul M.S. May 09 PendingQuaium Ridwan M.S. Dec 10 *Ramirez Sofia M.S. Dec 10 PendingRezaei Arash Ph.D. May 10 Pending

Robertson james M.S. May 10 *Shen Chung-Wei Ph.D. Aug 12 *

Sperry Ben Ph.D. Aug 11 *Sprague Stephen M.S. Aug 09 PendingVajdic Nevena M.S. Aug 09 PendingWan Feng M.S. May 10 *Xing Yao Ph.D. Aug 12 PendingPeng Yichuan Ph.D. Aug 12 Pending

Ye Feng Ph.D. Dec 10 PendingYin Kai M.S. Dec 10 *

Zeng Xaiosi M.S. Aug 09 PendingZhou Hongmin Ph.D. Aug 13 PendingZhou Xi Ph.D. Dec 12 PendingZou Yajie M.S. Aug 10 *