Established in 1994, the James H. Kell Award honors the late ITE Western District fellow and Honorary Member James H. Kell who passed away in July 1991. The competition intends for student chapters to develop innovative solutions to a transportation problem and to encourage participation in the profession. In 2002, then-Career Guidance Chair Charlie Ebeling introduced the Student Competition, and the following year, the Western District Board approved the renaming of the new competition to the Kell Award due to the level of participation.

The Kell Competition encourages ITE student members to attend and participate in Western District Annual Meetings, provides networking opportunities for students and professionals, and creates a fun atmosphere in which students can acclimate to the Annual Meeting. The District issues a request for proposals (RFP) inviting ITE student chapters to design and run the student competition at the Annual Meeting. The winning student chapter is awarded up to $1,500 to cover material costs and travel expenses to attend the Annual Meeting.

James H. Kell Competition RFP

Year
Award Winners
2023 RFP Award: University of California, Berkeley – “Portland Transit Game
Student Competition – 1st Place
Olive King – UCLA
Kelly Chan – UCLA
2nd
Kai Vincent – USC
Alex Wong – USC
Dhruv Chakraverty – USC
3rd
Josh Ogden – BYU
Matthew Davis – BYU
2022 RFP Award: Oregon State University
Student Competition – 1st Place
Gabe Denson – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Garett Davis – UC Berkeley
Bryan Kao – UC Berkeley
2nd
Jason Ng – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Sophia Tan – UCLA
Bennett Phelps – Oregon Tech
3rd
Leif Tuel – Oregon Tech
Nathan Sharafian, UCLA
Jacob Hamanda, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
2021
Hosted by the Student Funding and Initiatives Committee
Student Competition – 1st Place
Joshua Dungca – UCLA
Alyssa Inoue – UCLA
Sophia Tan – UCLA
Andrew Wong – UCLA
2nd
Cody Lim – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Philip Yang – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Lauren Zuend – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
3rd (Tie)
Jacob Hamada – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Emily Lin – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Jason Ng – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
3rd (Tie)
Eileen Chai – Oregon State
McKenna Milacek – Oregon State
Namu Timilsina – Oregon State
Jane Weber – Oregon State
2020 Hosted by the Student Funding and Initiatives Committee
Student Competition – 1st Place
Natalie Gray – BYU
Sami Lau – BYU
Bruce Wang – BYU
2nd
Logan Bennett – BYU
Justin Hunter – BYU
Camille Lunt – BYU
Mason Shoaf – BYU
3rd (Tie)
Zachary Fucini – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Jacob Hamada – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Bryant Lee – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Emily Lin – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Philip Yang – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
3rd (Tie)
Kassidy Kightlinger – Oregon Tech
Lauren Krueger – Oregon Tech
Cynthia Roe – Oregon Tech
Caroline Schulze – Oregon Tech
2019 RFP Award
Brigham Young University – “MiteY Rice”
2018 RFP Award
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo – “Amass Transit”
2017 RFP Award
University of California, Berkeley
2016 RFP Award
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
2015 RFP Award
Sacramento State University
Student Competition – 1st Place
Noel Le – Cal Poly Pomona
Elias Garcia – Cal State Fullerton
Jordan Frustaci – Brigham Young University
Natalia Brown – Brigham Young University
Robert Harmon – Cal Poly Pomona
Brendan Byron – University of Wyoming
Kevin Carstens – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Jose Palma – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
2nd
Alexander Sequeira – Cal Poly Pomona
Jacob Murray – Oregon Tech
Brian Jouflas – Northern Arizona University
Kevin Liang – Brigham Young University
Janet Ye – UCLA
XuQi Feng – UCLA
Isabel Hemerly Viegas de Lima – UC Berkeley
Gregory Sanchez – Brigham Young University
2014 RFP Award
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Student Competition – 1st Place
Allison Bruner – University of Kansas
Christian Tran – UCLA
Johnny Truong – Cal Poly Pomona
Casey Knecht – BYU
Dick Apronti – University of Wyoming
Alvin Lam – UC Davis
2nd
David Chang – BYU
Kwaku Boakye – University of Kansas
Jaime Hepner – University of Wyoming
James Fok – San Jose State
Karen Kulesza – Sacramento State
3rd (Tie)
Mark Shisler – Cal Poly Pomona
Saly Heng – Cal Poly Pomona
Armando Soto – University of New Mexico
Prathmesh Argade – University of Kansas
Elias Garcia – CSU Fullerton
Mario Flores – San Diego State
3rd (Tie)
Casey Le – UCLA
Adrian Cortez – CSU Fullerton
Danny Nguyen – Sacramento State
Vishal Sarikonda – University of Kansas
Elizabeth Ruedas – UC Irvine
Sara Lay – UC Irvine
Adrian Torres – San Diego State
2013 RFP Award
California State University, Sacramento
Student Competition – 1st Place
Marion Cartas, Cal Poly Pomona
Leonardo Flores, San Diego State
Vijay Sabawat, University of Wyoming
Andrew Scales, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
2nd
Mattew Vo, CSU Fullerton
Robert Kopelk, Cal Poly Pomona
Seishi Yamagata, BYU
3rd
Kevin Lu, Cal Poly Pomona
Paul St. Pierre, Cal Poly Pomona
Eric Milliken, University of Wyoming
Arturo Sotomayor, San Diego State
2012 RFP Award
University of Nevada, Reno
Student Competition – 1st Place
Matthew Feeley, Cal Poly Pomona
Gurtej Gill, UC Irvine
Travis Low, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Martin Nguyen, Cal State Fullerton
Gretel Ochoa, Cal Poly Pomona
2nd
Marion Cartas, Cal Poly Pomona
Octavio Duran, Jr., UC Irvine
Saly Heng, UCLA
Russell Oyewole, CSU Sacramento
Matt Schaible, Montana State
Paul Van Dyk, CSU Long Beach
3rd
Keven Carstens, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Robert Kopelk, Cal Poly Pomona
Trisha Munoz, Cal Poly Pomona
Ryan Quach, UC Irvine
Vijay Sabawat, University of Wyoming
2011 RFP Award
University of Washington
Student Competition – 1st Place
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
2nd
California State University, Fullerton
University of Arizona
3rd
University of Wyoming
2009 RFP Award
UC Berkeley
Student Competition – 1st Place
Ryan Miller, Cal Poly Pomona
Ryan Conrad, Portland State University
Enrique Biche, Cal Poly Pomona
2nd
Jessica Troemner, University of Wyoming
Zebulun Coulter, University of Wyoming
Paolo Baltar, UCLA
3rd
Jenna Buddemeyer, University of Wyoming
Karthik Konduri, Arizona State
Andy Kosinski, UC Berkeley
4th
Brandon Lacap, San Diego State
Kristie Gladhill, Portland State University
Alan Moore, University of Wyoming
2007 Tied for 1st – Strength
Nathan Mustafa, Cal Poly Pomona
Tony Symanovich, University of Seattle
Matt Marineau, University of Seattle
Tao Zhong, UW
Tied for 1st – Strength
Audrey Naral, UCLA
Adam Parast, UW
Josh Crain, Portland State University
Yao-Jan Wu, UW
1st – Design
Sarah Karjala, Montana State
Julian Hernandez, Cal Poly Pomona
Monica Joyce, Portland State University
Isidro Abreo, Cal Poly Pomona
2nd – Design
Neelam Sharma, UC Irvine
Kelly Pitera, UW
Mahesh Paudey, Sacto State
Enrique Biche, Cal Poly Pomona
2006 Gotham City Transportation Authority – Steven Vander Giessen (UW), Jorge Cervantes (CPP), Omar Sanchez (CPP), Vamsi Surapaneni (UNLV)
2005 1st
Juan Avila, Cal Poly Pomona
Luke Seegmiller, BYU
2nd
Victor Ling, Cal Poly Pomona
Ryan Peterson, BYU
3rd
Lyndsay Essigman, University of Wyoming
Benjamin Weaver, University of Wyoming
2004 Julianna Gonzalez, Cal Poly Pomona
Leo Espelet, San Diego State University
Laura Stanley, Montana State University
Chris Cherry, U. of California, Berkeley
2003 Scott Lee, Montana State
Yu Zhang, UC Berkeley
Ryan Avery, UW
Fredy Monge, Cal Poly Pomona
Maria Miranda, Cal Poly Pomona
2002 Alvin Ly, Cal Poly Pomona
Fredy Monge, Cal Poly Pomona
Amaka Okoro, CSU Long Beach
Meagan Powers, Montana State
Vincent Ramos, Cal Poly Pomona

Historic winners of the James H. Kell Award prior to format change:

Year
University
2001 none
2000 none
1999 University of California, Irvine
1998 none
1997 none
1996 Chico State University
1995 Cal Poly Pomona
1994 Chico State University

The original format of the James H. Kell Award had student chapters conduct and report on original research and investigation of transportation engineering subjects. The investigation shall include, but is not limited to, the collection of original traffic and transportation field data using accepted standard methods. The award recognizes outstanding accomplishment in this area.