Dear Western District Members,

As we roll out a couple of new Western District initiatives this fall, I’d like to acknowledge our MiteY Mentorship Program Lead, Daniel Lai (Washington Section), and Technical Committee Chair, Patrick Marnell (Oregon Section), for their efforts on some new initiatives.

In association with the Career Guidance Committee (chaired by Jenny Tapat), the MiteY Mentorship program was announced at the Annual Meeting in July and kicked off with a Fall Event on November 18th. The virtual event included a networking session, panel discussion, and one-on-one Q&A focused on providing mentorship insights on a range of topics many young professionals will face early in their careers. A big thank you to our panelists (Henry Hammel, Tyler Wong, Daniel Lai, Lisa Patterson, and Sowmya Chandrasekhar) for sharing their first-hand perspective on important questions such as how to achieve work-life balance, how to negotiate compensation, and when is the right time to change jobs. Stay tuned for future MiteY Mentorship events – get answers to similar questions and find a mentor (or two)!

Coinciding with National STEM day on November 8th, our Technical Committee has worked to re-structure the Western District’s student project RFP into an effort that will advance STEM outreach. In addition to facilitating Student Chapter activities, mentoring, and approximating real-world RFP experience for university students, this newly envisioned program aims to generate new STEM content for introducing high school and middle school students to transportation planning/engineering.

Our five-part, Fall Joint Sections Technical Webinar Series (“What you Knew is Changing”) was well-attended from all Western District Sections, including 185 attendees at the last session! Thank you to the ITE San Diego Section for hosting, all our presenters, and sponsors (Michael Baker International, KOA Corporation, W-Trans, HDR, Counts Unlimited, and Econolite).

Have a happy and safe thanksgiving!

Sincerely,
Giancarlo Ganddini
President, ITE Western District