The ITE-LSU Student Chapter organizes regular meetings during the Spring and Fall semesters. Meeting topics vary from technical discussions to experiences of speakers. ITE-LSU also organizes panel discussions to ensure that our members have a unique opportunity to learn from multiple guests and network with multiple companies/institutions.
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ITE-LSU General Meetings
Multi-Modal Transportation:
The ITE-LSU Student Chapter invited Mr. Phil Jones, LA DOTD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Inter-modal Transportation, to talked about the role of multi-modal transportation in Louisiana and how the Department of Transportation and Development supports the State airports, ports, waterways, railroads, and public transit. After hearing from our speaker, students participated in a traffic bowl demo organized by the officers. Prizes were given to the winning team!
Panel discussion with professionals in the field of traffic engineering:
The discussion gave students a better insight on how all the practitioners in the public and private sectors work together.
Panelist Right to Left: Brin Ferlito - VECTURA, Jody Savoie - Jefferson Parish Traffic Engineering Division, Lauren Picou - Urban Systems, Thomas Montz - ARCADIS, Kimberly McDaniel - Cobb, Fendley & Associates, and Mohan Garakhalli - ARCADIS.
Mr. Robert Canfield and Jeff Smith – Temple also supported the discussion.
Mr. Steve Strength from Louisiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP)
Mr. Ingolf Partenheimer, Chief Traffic Engineer for the City of Baton Rouge.
Student Involvement
Student Chapter President, Nelida Herrera
Student Chapter Co-advisor, Dr. Codjoe.
Mr. Mark Melancon from Intelligent Transportation Systems, LLC.
Mr. Thomas Montz from ARCADIS
Left to right: Thomas Montz - ARCADIS; Dr. Codjoe - LTRC; Mr. Mark Melancon - Intelligent Transportation Systems; Mr. Robert Canfield.
Panel discussion with recent graduates in transportation engineering:
Each panelist described their passion for the field of transportation engineering; responsibilities at their current job; transition from school to work; among other topics. Students sought advice about career choice, private vs. public industry, and finding the ideal job.
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Left to right: Rebecca LaPorte - Gresham, Smith and Partners, Kristen Gahagan - Cobb, Fendley & Associates.
Jonathan Fox - Intelligent Transportation Systems
Left to right: Fabiola Campoblanco - Sigma Consulting Group, and Clarke Chauvin - Intelligent Transportation Systems
Steve Strength - LTAP
Challenges in the traffic engineering profession:
The ITE-LSU Student Chapter invited Ms. Brin Ferlito - VECTURA and Mr. Steve Strength, Program Manager at Louisiana Transportation Research Center (LTAP), to present their perspective about the traffic engineering profession. The discussion included a description of the field and the differences between private and public sectors.
Intelligent Transportation Systems: Is it really Intelligent?
In the first meeting of the semester, the Student Chapter President, Nelida Herrera opened the meeting giving an introduction about the Student Chapter. The Student Chapter Co-advisor, Dr. Codjoe, gave a presentation about ITS.
Solving Transportation Problems:
In the second meeting of the semester, Mr. Steve Strength from Louisiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), gave a presentation about traffic safety. Students learned more about traffic safety analysis and countermeasures to address different safety problems. A second presentation about Red Light Running Cameras was given by Mr. Ingolf Partenheimer, Chief Traffic Engineer for the City of Baton Rouge. Students learned about the functionality of the cameras and the criteria for selecting intersections to install them.
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Mr. Pranjal Phaltane, Mr. Steve Strength, Mr. Ingolf Partenheimer, Mr. Robert Canfield, Mr. Thomas Montz, Mr. Mark Melancon, Ms. Elena Farhadi, Ms. Nelida Herrera
Left to right: Mr. Nick Ferlito from Neel-Schaffer; Mrs. Brin Ferlito from VECTURA; Mr. Pasha Peyvandi from Stantec; and Mr. Jonathan Fox from Intelligent Transportation Systems.
Panel Discussion: Pursuing a higher education degree or going into the workforce?
ITE-LSU held a panel discussion on the third and final meeting of the semester. Our panelists were: Mr. Nick Ferlito from Neel-Schaffer; Mrs. Brin Ferlito from VECTURA; Mr. Pasha Peyvandi from Stantec; and Mr. Jonathan Fox from Intelligent Transportation Systems. Students
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