Through the thin air of a sunny Rocky Mountain paradise, another ITE Western District Annual Meeting came to pass; over 500 people went home enlightened with fresh knowledge, emboldened with modern perspectives, and enriched with new relationships.  From July 12-15th Denver, Colorado hosted the 2009 annual meeting of the western United States’ best and brightest transportation engineering and planning professionals and students. “Transportation in the Sustainable Energy Future” was the theme of the technical program, and it kicked off in grand fashion with a dynamic look into the future of sustainable transportation by Michael O’Keefe, a senior

research engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in nearby Golden.  The technical program featured over 100 informative presentations and posters on a broad range of cutting-edge transportation projects and programs.

Activities for students, families, and guests were very well-attended as well, including the first ever Western District Student Traffic Bowl (won by the University of Wyoming), Family Night at Elitch’s Amusement Park, a rocking-good time at the 70’s-themed Annual Awards Banquet, and the time-honored Traffic Bowl (won by the Arizona Section).  The 28 exhibitors and 13 sponsors who made the meeting possible are also to be commended for their support of the annual meeting.

Finally, many thanks to the hard-working Local Arrangements Committee members and their employers for their commitment to making the 2009 Denver annual meeting a resounding success.  They are as follows:  Prof. Rhonda Young (University of Wyoming), Student; Larry Corcoran (Douglas County), Transportation; Sarah Karjala (Fehr and Peers), Traffic Bowl; Will Johnson (SEH), Co-Chair and Vendor/Sponsor Coordinator; John LaSala (City and County of Denver), Hospitality; Jamie Archambeau (PBS&J), Registration; Nate Larson (URS), Co-Chair; Aaron Heumann (Martin + Martin), Financial; Alex Ariniello (LSC), Technical; Paul Brown (Jacobs), Publications; Kari McDowell (McDowell Engineering), Publicity; and Margie Krell (URS), Family Activities.