Cal Poly SLO ITE

For our last general meeting of the quarter, we were honored to have Jenny L. Grote, PE, PTOE, PTP, Wulf Grote, PE, and Ray Davis as our speakers! This power trio presented about their impressive careers in the transportation industry and their involvement in ITE, the future of bus lanes, and the importance of being leaders in our communities. We appreciate them for taking the time to stick around and connect with our enthusiastic members over High Street Deli and their passion for transportation afterwards. Thank you to Jenny, Wulf, and Ray for being such awesome presenters and the team at HDR for sponsoring lunch!

Last Thursday, we had the pleasure of welcoming Cal Poly ITE alumni Meagan Chan, EIT from Kimley-Horn back to SLO! Meagan gave a great presentation about her experience and exciting projects at Kimley-Horn in San Jose and journey as a transportation professional, while also answering questions from our passionate community of transportation enthusiasts. Big round of applause to Meagan for being such an awesome presenter and the team at Kimley-Horn for making this all possible!

Eight members from Cal Poly ITE recently took a trip down to the bay! We began the day by touring SFMTA, we learned about complete streets and ITS. Big round of applause to?Vanessa See, PE, TE?for organizing our visit! At Kittelson we compared and contrasted the differences between planning and engineering and saw the design process that goes into the preliminary planning of transportation improvements. Thank you to?Michael Alston, TE?for setting it up, and to Jonathan Zisk for being a great host! Finally we made a stop at Bay Ferry Terminal G to meet up with?Rafael Regan?for a quick tour around the Bay by water. It was amazing to learn about how important ferries truly are to keeping the Bay running smoothly. Thank you again Rafael for giving us free tickets and such an amazing experience! It was wonderful to meet so many talented professionals and experts, and learn about San Francisco's amazing transportation history! We?hope to run into you all again sometime in the future.

Last week, we had the opportunity to meet with eight California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo students as they explored different parts of the transportation industry. Organized through their local ITE school chapter, the students planned a full day of site visits, with our Oakland office being just one of their many stops across the city. ?? While at the Oakland office, we had thoughtful discussions about the profession, sharing insights on real world transportation projects. It was great to see Sam Gregory, a former Portland intern and president of the Cal Poly ITE chapter, along with Olivia Saldana, a future Phoenix intern. ?? We appreciate the time and effort these students put into organizing their visit, and we’re grateful to Jonathan Zisk and Michael Alston, TE for coordinating, as well as Laurence Lewis, Mike Aronson, and Ben Demonbreun, E.I.T. for leading engaging discussions on their work. It’s always inspiring to connect and exchange ideas with future transportation professionals. ??

Granite Construction certainly cemented our interest at this past general meeting! This presentation brightened the mood during the rainy weather we had, as our community of transportation enthusiasts enjoyed learning about the amazing opportunities that Granite has to offer, the firm itself, and the exciting projects they've done. Round of applause to Charlotte Moua, Michael Clark, PE, PMP, and Dan Barton for presenting and answering all of our burning questions after the meeting and the team at Granite Construction for making this all possible!

Long overdue applause to Anna Kielpinski Johnson, PE for presenting about the benefits of joining and being in WTS (Women's Transportation Seminar)! Our members enjoyed learning about the experiences of being a woman in the transportation industry and how we can be part of the effort of creating a more inclusive environment for them. Thank you to Anna and the team at WTS for making this insightful presentation possible!

This past weekend, Cal Poly SLO ITE went to the 2025 ITE Student Leadership Summit! Our community of transportation enthusiasts thoroughly enjoyed the professional events, networking with both peers and professionals, going on field trips, and competing at traffic bowl ????????. We've made great memories and gained valuable insight about the transportation industry. Thank you to Institute of Transportation Engineers - UCLA for hosting this year and making it such a great experience for all of our members!

We kicked off winter quarter with an amazing presentation by Ethan Pence, PE from Wallace Group! Our members enjoyed learning about his recent project in Atascadero and sustainable transportation infrastructure. Special thanks to Ethan for sticking around to answer questions from our community of transportation enthusiasts and Wallace Group for making this happen!

We ended fall quarter with a hit presentation by John DiNunzio from SLOCOG! He gave a riveting presentation on the upcoming Regional Safety Act Plan and provided insight into the community outreach, data analysis, and public input behind it. We greatly appreciate the presentation (and metal water bottles) given and it was an honor to learn about a project that involves and benefits our local communities here in SLO.

Kittelson & Associates hit it out of the ballpark at our past general meeting! We sincerely thank Megan Mannion, EIT and Peyton Ratto for giving us a fantastic presentation about Kittelson and their work on the Sacramento Neighborhood Connections Plan, conducting interviews with our community of transportation enthusiasts, and giving us a glimpse into what the transportation industry has to offer! Thank you to the team at Kittelson for making all of this possible.