ALSITE NEWS

A Publication of the Alabama Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers

Volume XLIV - Issue 2

Summer 2014

IN THIS ISSUE
Upcoming Events
President's Message
ALSITE 2013 Annual Meeting
2013 ALSITE Spring Meeting Recap
Vendor Exhibit
The 2013...SDITE Annual Meeting Recap
Student Chapter Updates
2013 ALSITE NEWS Sponsors
ALSITE Quick Links
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Upcoming Events

 

42nd ALSITE Annual Meeting

Wednesday-Friday,

June 4-6

The Beach Club

Gulf Shores, AL

Meeting Website

 

ITE Annual Meeting & Exhibit

Sunday-Wednesday,

August 10-13

Seattle, WA

Meeting Website

 

The Welcoming Committee is currently in the process of putting together the gift bags for the annual meeting for new members, first time attendants, visitors from other sections, outside candidates for office, etc.  If you would like to provide things for the bags (it can have your company logo on it or it can be something generic), please let me know by emailing me at [email protected] or by calling me at 205-655-8855.  You can send it/bring it to me at 3644 Vann Road, Suite 100, Birmingham, AL  35235 or we can arrange to pick it up - if it's local :)

 

Thank you so much for your generosity!!  - Julie LeNoir

If you are interested in contributing to the door prizes that are given out at the end of each session, please bring them to the front of the room before the beginning of any session and coordinate with Richard Caudle.

And last but not least.....

 

Don't forget to bring items to put in the Scholarship Auction !!!

 

Suggested items:

  • Gift Baskets
  • Electronics
  • Collegiate Items
  • Sporting Goods
  • Tools
  • Experience Gift Certificates
  • Gift Cards

 

You can contribute to the auction even if you are unable to attend the meeting.  Please deliver your donated items to an officer by June 2nd.

2014 Officers 

 

President

Greg Dawkins

 

Vice- President

Jeff Stephenson

 

Secretary/Treasurer

Rod Turochy

 

Affiliate Director

Kevin Garmon

 

Assistant Affiliate Director

Darrell Vines

 

Southern District Representative

Becky White

 

Immediate Past President

Becky Malenke

 

Contact an Officer

Elections

 

Biographies for officer candidates were recently e-mailed to all members and affiliates.  Ballots will be sent by e-mail soon.  Please vote!

 

President's Message
Greg Dawkins, P.E.
ALSITE President

 

 

Greetings!  It's hard to believe that I am already writing an article for the summer newsletter.  It is amazing how quickly the year seems to pass when serving. ALSITE continues to advance thanks to the hard work and commitment of many individuals!

 

ALSITE was well represented at the Southern District ITE Meeting in Greensboro where we won the Outstanding Small Section Award for the Fifth year in a row. A full recap of the meeting is included in the SDITE article below.

 

I hope that everyone will be able to join us for our Annual Meeting in Gulf Shores. This year is a joint meeting, so join us with our friends from the Deep South Section.

 

The Harold M. Raynor Scholarships, Inc. will be awarding two scholarships at the Annual Meeting.  Please remember to bring items to donate to the Scholarship Auction so we can continue to invest in our students and the future of our profession!

 

I look forward to seeing everyone at the Meeting and thanks to everyone for their hard work in making ALSITE the best (in my humble opinion) Section in the country!

 

 

Gregory L. Dawkins, P.E.

ALSITE President

 

 

Joint ALSITE-DSITE 2014 Annual Meeting 



We look forward to seeing you at the beach for the Annual Meeting on June 4-6, 2014.  The meeting will be held at the beautiful Beach Club in Fort Morgan.  

 

Scheduled events include:

  • Professional Development Session
  • Two (2) Technical Sessions
  • Officers' Reception
  • Banquet & Scholarship Auction
  • Section Breakfast/Traffic Bowl
  • Section Business Meeting
  • Vendor Exhibit
  • Fast Eddie's Shrimp Boil
  • Billy Jones Memorial Golf Tournament

For additional information - including links to online registration for the meeting, vendor exhibit and golf tournament - see the Upcoming Events section of the newsletter, or visit www.alsite.org.

2014 ALSITE Spring Meeting

 

 

On Thursday, March 6, 2014, the Alabama Section of ITE held its Spring Meeting at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  There were several very interesting technical presentations that covered a wide variety of topics from UAB's Blazer Express to ALDOT's response to Winter Storm Leon.  New to this year's meeting was an opportunity for the Student Chapters of ITE from Auburn, UAB, and Alabama to showcase the activities of their respective chapters.  The agenda for the meeting can be found here.

 

The Spring Section Meeting plays host to the Traffic Bowl Competition between the ITE Student Chapters of Auburn, Alabama, and UAB - with the winner of the competition moving on to the Southern District ITE Traffic Bowl Competition. As many of you know, the Student Traffic Bowl Competition follows the same format of the game show "Jeopardy", with the questions all being transportation related. The match was back and forth with lots of correct answers and all teams staying neck-and-neck through both rounds.  In the end, the home-standing University of Alabama Student Chapter was able to pull out a victory, and earn the right to represent the Alabama Section in the Southern District Competition at the Southern District Annual Meeting in Greensboro, GA.

 

Vendor Exhibit


The Vendor Exhibit will be returning this year on June 4-5 in conjunction with our Annual Meeting!  Vendors are invited to set up non-electrical displays on 6' tables in the Gulf View Room immediately adjacent to the meeting room.  Space is limited, so the first vendors to sign up and pay the $100 registration fee will get the tables.  This is a great opportunity to share traffic and transportation products with our membership! 

 

The Gulf View Room will be open at 11:00 AM on Wednesday, June 4th, for vendors to set up displays.  The displays should be ready in time for the mid-afternoon break at 3:00 PM.  Displays can remain in place overnight for attendees to visit before the Thursday morning sessions and during the mid-morning break at 10:00 AM.  We will offer incentives to encourage all attendees to visit the displays throughout the meeting.  Displays should be removed immediately following the Thursday morning break and must be gone by 12:00 PM, so that the Beach Club staff can set up for the banquet.

 

Note:  If vendors plan to attend other meeting activities, full conference registration is required.

5th Annual 

TEEN DRIVING SUMMIT

Discovery Alabama at Watermark Place, Bessemer

March, 12th, 2014

 

Over 70 students from Jefferson County area high schools participated in the 5th Annual Crash Course Teen Driving Summit took place on March 12th, 2014 at the Discovery Alabama at Watermark Place in Bessemer. Additionally, SALTEENS was in charge of all of providing volunteers at the event and ten ALSITE's members helped throughout the day.

 

This one-day workshop raises awareness of the risk involved in distracted driving, teaches skills that help to protect teens while driving and prepares student participants to return to their own schools and educate their peers.

 

Students rotated through five educational stations: Distracted Driving, How to save your Friends' life, Think First, Jeopardy game and the Simulator. The Simulator is mounted in a Jefferson County Sheriff's patrol car and it has been the most popular station thru the years.

The instructors put paid special attention to explain rules of an Alabama Graduated Driver License Law.

 

After provided lunch NBC-13's Wendy Garner from Daytime Alabama judged posters that students brought for a poster contest. The poster contest winner was awarded a cash prize to be used to promote safe driving at their school. The winning poster will be printed and distributed to schools throughout the Jefferson County.

 

NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

SDITE Annual Meeting Recap

Submitted by Becky White, Section Representative

 

The Georgia Section hosted a great annual meeting for SDITE in Greensboro last month.  The meeting was well attended and included a strong technical program with plenty of time for socializing with old and new friends.   Following are some highlights of the annual meeting that may be of interest. 

  • SDITE offered its first ever scholarships for free meeting registration to a young Member from each Section.  Laura Beth Yates was the scholarship recipient from Alabama.  The scholarships are aimed at encouraging young Members to attend the annual meeting.
  • The keynote address was given by Mark Rosekind, Board Member of the National Transportation Safety Board.  He presented compelling data related to the frequency and seriousness of driver fatigue in transportation crashes.  Mr. Rosekind's presentation is posted on the meeting website at www.sdite2014.org.

  • Alabama won big at the annual awards program.  We brought home the Outstanding Section Award (Group 2).  Richard Caudle received the Marble J. Hensley Outstanding Individual Activity Award, and James Foster received the John Exnicios Government Employee Outstanding Service Award.
  • For those interested in Leadership Development, Alabama was the talk of the conference for the service project we conducted to provide ALDOT staff with leadership training.

 SDITE continues its focus on some key initiatives.  Outreach to young Members is a priority, and new initiatives to help young Members integrate into ITE are being developed.  Leadership Development continues to be a focus, and we will see the SDITE training program mature and expand in the next two years.  There are lots of ways for ALSITE members to contribute at the District level.  If you are interested in becoming more involved with SDITE, please let me know so I can help you find a place of meaningful engagement.
ITE Student Chapter Updates

UAB ITE Student Chapter

Submitted by Dr. Virginia Sisiopiku

 

The UAB ITE student chapter had a busy Spring Semester that offered student members many opportunities to engage in professional development activities and community service.  UAB student chapter members traveled to Washington, D.C. for the 93rd Transportation Research Board Meeting (January 2014), Tuscaloosa, AL for the ALSITE Spring Meeting (March 2014), and the 2014 UTC Conference for the Southeastern Region in Atlanta, GA.  

 

As part of community service, the UAB ITE student chapter volunteered at the Teen Driving Safety Summit (March 2014), the UAB Kids in Engineering Day (March 2014), and the UAB Girls in Science and Engineering Day (April 2014). These events promoted safe driving practices and introduced young participants to transportation engineering disciplines through fun hands-on activities. Highlights include the Chocolate Asphalt Workshop (Kids in Engineering) and the Edible Car Design and Racing competition (Girls in Science and Engineering).  

 

Several student chapter members also received notable awards for outstanding performance. In the Spring Semester, Mr. Ossama Ramadan (PhD student in Transportation) was named Outstanding Graduate Student Engineer in CCEE; Mr. Shrikanth Mamidipalli (PhD Candidate in Transportation) received the 2014 GAFP Scholarship, and Mr. Gauen Alexander (Undergraduate Student in Civil Engineering) was awarded the 2014 Billy Jones Memorial Traffic Engineering Scholar Award from ALSITE.

 

The UAB ITE Student Chapter would like to offer a farewell to graduating officers Natalia Barbour (President, MSCE-Transportation); Jose Hasbun (Vice President, MSCE-Transportation), and Jamieson Matthews (Treasurer, BS-Civil Engineering) and wish them well in their future endeavors.
 

 

Submitted by Dr. Rod Turochy

 

During the Spring 2014 semester, the Auburn University student chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (AUITE) was able to continue its support of the Engineering Day (E-Day), the Auburn University's Engineering Open House. The event took place on Friday, February 28. Middle and high school students who are considering a career in engineering had a chance to learn about the Auburn campus, engineering programs, and the opportunities the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering offers. Students had a chance to chat with Auburn students and faculty, experience interactive exhibits, and visit classes and labs. The AUITE Student Chapter had the responsibility of introducing Auburn while on Tiger Transit shuttles provided for the visitors and answer questions.

 

On March 6, members of the Auburn University student chapter attended the ALSITE 2014 Spring Meeting.Three members of AUITE were part of the Auburn University team at the Traffic Bowl competition, Mikhail Gordon, Chase Horton, and Luana Ozelim. The group also made a presentation related to the student chapters.

Mohammad Jalayer - 1st place at the SDITE Outstanding Graduate Student Paper Award

 

During the spring semester, the student chapter brought to Auburn University guest speakers that presented lectures related to a variety of topics in Transportation. On March 20, Intelligent Transportation Systems in Alabama were discussed in a lecture entitled "Alabama ITS: State of the State" by Stacey Glass, Deputy Chief for the Maintenance Bureau at the Alabama Department of Transportation. Jeffrey Dumars, Assistant Director of Auburn University Campus Planning & Space Management, was the guest speaker of the AUITE meeting that took place on March 27, and talked about "AU Transportation Master Planning". On April 10, Elizabeth Hammer, Analyst at Kimley-Horn and Associates (and former AUITE officer), presented a lecture entitled "Signal Timing Optimization: A Tool for Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement". The last meeting of the Spring semester was presented by John Funny, President/CEO of the Grice Consulting Group, and he talked about "Careers in Traffic / Transportation Engineering".

2014 ALSITE NEWS Sponsors

Thanks to our current ALSITE NEWS Sponsors! 

 

 

  AECOM

Inline

 

 

 

Neel-Schaffer

 

 

Skipper  

Vulcan Signs

 

TransCore  

 

Southern Lighting & Traffic  

 

Traffic Data  

Become a sponsor today!

 

A big THANK YOU to our current ALSITE NEWS sponsors - we appreciate your commitment to ALSITE!

 

If you would like to become an ALSITE NEWS sponsor, please contact Clark Bailey by email, at [email protected], or by phone at 205.655.8855.

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