Gary Riggins Completes Cal Poly Visit

Gary Riggins, a master's student from the Lehrstuhl für Verkehrstechnik (Chair of Transportation Technology) at the Technische Universität München (Technical University of Munich, Germany) completed his 5 month visit to Cal Poly where he was working as a research assistant on the Oregon Department of Transportation project to evaluate the new variable speed limit system on Oregon Route 217. We appreciate all of Gary's contributions to our department and will miss him! We wish him well in his next endeavors!

Nora Chin Master's Defense

Nora Chin successfully defended her Master's project, "Investigating the Correlation Between
Freeway Traffic Levels and Freeway Service Patrol Assists," on August 13, 2015. The project is a partnership with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and their Freeway Service Patrol program. This was the subject of some of my early research back in the 1990s, so I particularly enjoyed re-visiting the topic. I was pleased to serve as a member of her committee along with Dr. Anurag Pande, and committee chair Dr. Cornelius Nuworsoo. Best wishes to Nora as she begins her career!

Cal Poly SLO ITE Student Chapter - Victorious at International Level

The Cal Poly SLO ITE Student Chapter has recently won the International Student Chapter Award (second year in a row, out of 157 student chapters mostly in the U.S., but also abroad) as well as the 2015 International Collegiate Traffic Bowl, at the ITE International meeting held in Hollywood, Florida. According to President Kevin Carstens, "in the first round, Cal Poly squared off against Auburn and University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. After some initial hesitation, we racked up a significant lead, entering the final question at 2400 to UPR's 1300. After the final question (something related to pedestrian safety scores) which all teams missed, we won with 2100 to the other teams' 0 (each). The second and third rounds saw the University of Manitoba and Purdue University defeating the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Pennsylvania State University, Iowa State University, and University of Texas at Austin. In the final round, Cal Poly ITE took off with a failed launch, falling to -300 versus Manitoba's 700. However, we staged a slow comeback throughout the game, reaching the final question with a slight lead at 1600, against Manitoba's 1300 and Purdue's 1000. The final answer was given (paraphrased: "A lane marking that tells drivers to expect bikes and cyclists where to ride"), and all teams correctly responded "what is a sharrow?" Purdue bet all and ended with 2000, Manitoba bet 701 and ended with 2001, and Cal Poly bet 1001 and ended with 2601." Congratulations to the whole team!

Cal Poly SLO ITE Student Chapter - Victorious at Western District Level

The Cal Poly SLO ITE Student Chapter was victorious at the recent Western District Annual Meeting held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Out of 35 student chapters in the Western District, Cal Poly SLO was selected as the top chapter for the second year in a row, receiving the Student Chapter Award. In addition, the Cal Poly SLO team won the Western District level of the Collegiate Traffic Bowl, moving on to the national championship. There was a wonderful representation with about 18 Cal Poly students in attendance at the Western District Annual Meeting. Congratulations to all! Photos show all members in attendance; current officers (Karl Schmidt, Alex Chambers, Bobby Sidhu, Kevin Carstens, Krista Purser and Kelsey Littell); current/past presidents including Krista Purser, Kevin Carstens, Kaylinn Roseman, Travis Low, and Cameron Shew).