News
Keep up with our events and happenings.
USC ITE Students Excel at the 2025 SoCal ITE/OCTEC Student Presentation Night
Published May 7, 2025 by Alex Wang
On Thursday, May 1st, 2025, the Southern California section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (SoCal ITE) and Orange County Traffic Engineering Council (OCTEC) hosted their annual Student Presentation Night at Knott's Berry Farm. Bringing six universities together - USC, UCLA, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Long Beach, Cal Poly...
From Runways to Renewables: Exploring Sustainability at John Wayne Airport
Published May 5, 2025 by Wesley Kao
On Friday, April 18th, 2025, USC ITE members participated in a technical tour at John Wayne International Airport (SNA) in Orange County. USC ITE members were joined by fellow ITE student chapters at UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and Cal Poly Pomona on this two-part tour that included a presentation on...
Learning from Lisa Derderian, City of Pasadena's Public Information Officer
Published April 25, 2025 by Jackson Brunner
On Thursday, April 18, USC ITE welcomed Lisa Derderian for a Speaker Series event. She has served as the City of Pasadena Public Information Officer (PIO) since 2018 after prior roles as the City Emergency Management Coordinator and Public Information Officer for the Pasadena Fire Department dating back to 2003....
Driving Change: OTS Director Stephanie Dougherty on Safety, Strategy, and Career Growth
Published April 13, 2025 by Mila Mattson and Juliet Chang
On Wednesday, March 26, USC ITE welcomed Ms. Stephanie Dougherty to a virtual speaker series event. During the one-hour presentation and Q&A, ITE members and professionals gained valuable insights about what it’s like to work in the transportation industry, the agency’s ongoing efforts to improve traffic safety, and general life...
Visiting the USC Aviation Safety Program's accident investigation warehouse
Published April 1, 2025 by Alex Wang
On Friday, March 28th, 2025, USC's ITE and Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) student chapters joined forces for a site tour of USC's Aviation Safety Program's accident investigation warehouse. Although not always well known, USC's Aviation Safety Program has long been a leader in educating aviation crash investigation...
A Conversation with Ryan Chamberlain: Local, Regional, and State Transportation Insights
Published March 24, 2025 by Ivy Tan
On Thursday, March 6th, USC ITE had the honor of hosting Ryan Chamberlain, CEO of the Transportation Corridor Agencies, for a distinguished speaker series event. ...
USC ITE at the Western District Student Leadership Summit
Published February 11, 2025 by Mila Mattson
USC ITE had a blast at the 12th annual ITE Western District Student Leadership Summit from January 31 to February 2, 2025. Thanks to generous sponsorship from METRANS and the Viterbi Conference & Research fund, 20 USC students attended the three-day conference hosted by UCLA. Along with over 220 students...
Discovering San Diego’s Multimodal Transportation System
Published December 23, 2024 by Alex Wang
In December 2024, eight USC Viterbi School of Engineering and Sol Price School of Public Policy students embarked on USC ITE’s second-ever technical study trip for three days. Heading in the opposite direction of our ...
2024 ITE Orange County Joint Office Tour Recap
Published November 27, 2024 by Ryan Zapata
On Friday, November 22, 2024, members of the USC ITE Chapter, along with our fellow ITE Student Chapters at UCLA, Cal State Fullerton, and UC Irvine participated in our annual Joint Office Tour. This office tour, where ITE Chapters tour offices of public and private transportation employers, was unique in...
An ITE Seminar with Dr. Ruolin Li: The Potential of Autonomous Vehicles in Future Transportation Systems
Published November 17, 2024 by JK Jayakumar
On Thursday, November 14th, Dr. Ruolin Li from the University of Southern California's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering presented a seminar on “The potential of autonomous vehicles in future transportation systems.” Dr. Li, who recently joined USC, shared insights from her ongoing research and discussed collaboration opportunities in this...
USC ITE Takes on the California Transportation Foundation Education Symposium
Published November 17, 2024 by Lindsey Housinger
On November 7-8, 2024, two USC ITE members, Andrew Keefer and Lindsey Housinger, were able to participate in the California Transportation Foundation's 29th annual Transportation Education Symposium in Fresno, CA. The symposium features a one-to-one ratio of students to professionals, pairing each student up with a mentor for the duration of...
USC ITE Hosts the 2024 SoCal ITE Traffic Bowl
Published November 10, 2024 by Brandon Sanchez
On Saturday, October 19th, USC ITE hosted five other schools (Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Long Beach, UCLA, UCI, Cal State Fullerton) for the 2024 SoCal ITE Traffic Bowl. The Traffic Bowl is an annual event hosted by ITE SoCal in which student chapters compete to prove their knowledge of...
Learning about America’s Port - Up Close and Personal
Published November 4, 2024 by Sophia Knappertz
On Friday, November 1, 2024, over fifty USC students from the Viterbi School of Engineering, Price School of Public Policy, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and School of Architecture toured the Port of Los Angeles, also known as America’s Port. These students are enrolled in Professor Jill Sohm’s...
Behind the Barriers: Exploring the SR57/SR60 Confluence Chokepoint Relief Project
Published October 26, 2024 by Xenia Estey
On Friday, October 4, 2024, a group of USC students, spanning disciplines from engineering to urban planning, had the unique opportunity to explore behind the scenes of one of Southern California’s most significant highway interchanges, the State Route 57/State Route 60 interchange (SR57/SR60) in the San Gabriel Valley (SGV). The...
Learning How Government Relations Works with Metrolink's Anna Denecke
Published October 17, 2024 by Jackson Brunner
On Monday, October 14th, USC ITE hosted Anna Denecke for our October Speaker Series. Anna currently works as the Senior Manager of Government Relations for Metrolink. ...
A Conversation With Sam Morrissey: Looking Forward to the LA28 Games
Published October 5, 2024 by Ivy Tan
On Wednesday, September 11th, USC ITE hosted Sam Morrissey, Vice President of Transportation at the LA 28 Games. With the recent 2024 Paris Games wrapping up, many eyes turned to LA. Los Angeles will be the third city in the world, joining London and Paris, to host the Games for...
On the Road to Zero Emissions: Foothill Transit is Leading the Way
Published October 1, 2024 by Natalia Ratner
On September 20, 2024, 33 USC students studying transportation-related courses visited the Foothill Transit Maintenance Facility in Arcadia, CA. This visit was the first of three trips Professor Eric Shen arranged for for his CE430: Sustainable Transportation class. The learning objective was to explore the real-world constraints that regional transit...
Exploring the Gold Line Foothill Extension
Published April 26, 2024 by Ryan Zapata
On Friday, April 19, members of USC ITE got the privilege of getting a behind the scenes look at the new Metro A Line Foothill Extension in Glendora. This project, which is projected to open in early 2025, has recently been marketed as the “Gold Line Foothill Extension,” (EXTENSION)...
Media Panel: Transportation in LA with Nick Andert and Rachel Uranga
Published April 22, 2024 by Lindsey Housinger
On April 11th, 2024, USC ITE had the pleasure of welcoming two transportation media professionals to our campus for a media panel discussion about transportation in Los Angeles. On our panel was documentary film producer, Nick Andert, and LA Times writer, Rachel Uranga. ...
Exploring Innovation and Sustainability at Metrolink's Central Maintenance Facility
Published March 26, 2024 by Samantha Frederico
The journey begins with a group of USC students and their faculty, Professor Eric Shen, as they embark on a technical study tour of the Metrolink Central Maintenance Facility (CMF) after returning from spring break. Nestled within the city of Los Angeles in the Cypress Park community, CMF is key...
A Conversation with Foothill Transit CEO, Doran Barnes
Published March 24, 2024 by Sabrina Bluml and Jackson Brunner
On Tuesday, March 20th, Doran Barnes from Foothill Transit visited USC ITE. Mr. Barnes discussed his career and his work as the Chief Executive Officer of Foothill Transit, a position he has held for nearly 25 years. As a graduate of USC’s Masters of Public Administration Program, Mr. Barnes...
Building and Maintaining Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure in Long Beach
Published February 27, 2024 by Joel Kim and Connie Devenport
On Friday, February 23rd, a group comprising 24 USC students and research faculty had the privilege of touring the California State Department of Transportation (Caltrans) District 7’s maintenance facility, focusing on the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge and the Long Beach Container Terminal (LBCT). We extend our gratitude to our...
Insights from Transportation Professionals: February Speaker Series with Allison Yoh and Kimberly Yu
Published February 20, 2024 by Lindsey Housinger
On Thursday February 15, 2024, USC ITE and members of the USC community welcomed Metro’s Dr. Allison Yoh and AECOM’s Kimberly Yu to our February Speaker Series installment. Dr. Yoh is the Executive Officer for Mobility Corridors, Countywide Planning and Development for Los Angeles Metro and Ms. Yu is...
Long Beach Airport: Making Air Travel Easier and Much Greener
Published February 16, 2024 by Lauren Anderson
On Friday, February 9th, 29 USC students conducted a technical study tour of the Long Beach Airport (LGB) with a specific focus on its sustainable practice. We extend our gratitude to the Airport Leadership Team for delivering a comprehensive presentation. With students representing diverse majors and career interests in transportation,...
Student Leadership Summit: USC ITE’s experience at Cal Poly SLO
Published February 12, 2024 by Lindsey Housinger
From February 2nd-4th, USC ITE members traveled to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo to participate in the 10th annual ITE Western District Student Leadership Summit! Starting early Friday morning, the members boarded the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner from Union Station to SLO, accompanied by UCLA’s ITE Chapter. In SLO, we...
Discussing the Future of High Speed Rail in California
Published January 22, 2024 by Kai Vincent
On Thursday, January 18th, Ms. LaDonna DiCamillo from the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) visited USC ITE as the first distinguished speaker series guest of 2024. Ms. DiCamillo discussed her career and her work as the Southern California Regional Director at CHSRA. ...
Exploring San Jose's Transportation Infrastructure
Published January 6, 2024 by Andrew Keefer
In December 2023, eight of our student members visited the Bay Area during Winter Recess. While traveling, we visited with public agencies and private firms, bonded with other ITE student chapters, and grew as a team. This article is part of a longer series documenting the trip. We started the day...
Exploring Transportation Careers in Oakland
Published January 5, 2024 by Andrew Keefer
In December 2023, eight of our student members visited the Bay Area during Winter Recess. While traveling, we visited with public agencies and private firms, bonded with other ITE student chapters, and grew as a team. This article is part of a longer series documenting the trip. We began our day...
Visiting Public Agencies in San Francisco
Published January 4, 2024 by Andrew Keefer
In December 2023, eight of our student members visited the Bay Area during Winter Recess. While traveling, we visited with public agencies and private firms, bonded with other ITE student chapters, and grew as a team. This article is part of a longer series documenting the trip. On Monday, December 18th,...
USC ITE Chapter Visits With Cal and UC Davis ITE Chapters
Published January 3, 2024 by Andrew Keefer
In December 2023, eight of our student members visited the Bay Area during Winter Recess. While traveling, we visited with public agencies and private firms, bonded with other ITE student chapters, and grew as a team. This article is part of a longer series documenting the trip. Supported in part by...
Visiting New Delta & LAWA Facilities at LAX
Published December 15, 2023 by Ryan Zapata
On Friday, December 1, 2023, nine members of USC ITE were fortunate enough to visit the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and get an in-depth tour of Delta’s newly renovated Terminal 3 in addition to the new Midfield Satellite Concourse (MSC) and its automated baggage-handling facility. Our tour was...
Exploring Transportation Profession Through CTF Mentorship and Team Building Exercise
Published December 8, 2023 by Kai Vincent
On Thursday, November 16 and Friday, November 17, the California Transportation Foundation (CTF) hosted its 28th annual Education Symposium in Walnut Creek, California. Three USC ITE members, Brandon Sanchez, Emma Silverstein, and Kai Vincent, were nominated by the University to attend the symposium, which drew 43 junior and senior students...
Discovering Transportation Careers in Downtown LA
Published November 17, 2023 by Alex Wang
On September 17, 2023, 37 ITE students at universities in Southern California converged on Downtown LA for an annual office tour event. Jointly planned by USC’s and UCLA’s ITE chapters this year, the event was a highly collaborative effort with six universities across the region represented: the University of...
Learning About the Hollywood Burbank Airport Replacement Passenger Terminal Project
Published October 27, 2023 by Ryan Zapata
On Friday, October 27, USC ITE held its second technical tour of the semester, this time to the Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) located about 15 miles from USC. Historically known as the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport, the Hollywood Burbank Airport is perhaps best known as a convenient alternative to LAX for residents...
Learning Metro’s Big Plan: A Conversation with Sharon Gookin, Deputy Chief Executive Director
Published October 25, 2023 by Haoyue Wang
On October 25th, USC ITE was pleased to host Ms. Sharon Gookin, P.E., Deputy Chief Executive Officer of LA Metro, to share her career experience and insights on Metro’s Big Plan on transportation. Ms. Gookin began her conversation by looking back at her college journey and reflecting on her active engagement...
Trojans Making a Difference in the Bus Industry
Published October 19, 2023 by Andrew Keefer
On October 19, 2023, USC ITE hosted five bus industry professionals for a special panel event. Our guests included USC alumni Lauren Deaderick, Senior Manager of Customer Experience and Transportation Planning at Metro and past Senior Transit Operations Analyst at Big Blue Bus (MPL ‘19); Griffin Kantz, transportation planner at...
USC ITE Tours Fullerton Road Grade Separation Project
Published October 2, 2023 by Alex Wang
Members of the Institute of Transportation Engineers at USC (USC ITE) toured the Fullerton Road grade separation project in the City of Industry, CA, on September 29th, 2023. Led by the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG), the Fullerton Road project is one of four remaining projects in the Alameda...
USC ITE and METRANS Co-Host SCAG Executive Director Kome Ajise
Published September 25, 2023 by Alex Wang
On Wednesday, September 20, 2023, USC ITE and the METRANS Transportation Research Consortium co-hosted Mr. Kome Ajise, Executive Director of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), for our first distinguished speaker event of the year. Professor Marlon Boarnet, METRANS Director, introduced Mr. Ajise. Professor Boarnet emphasized SCAG’s outsized impact on Southern California: it...
Transportation Innovation and Coastal Charm: Touring the Port of San Diego and SANDAG
Published April 8, 2023 by Alex Wang
On Friday, April 7th, nine Viterbi, Sol Price and Keck students and members of the University of Southern California Institute of Transportation Engineers chapter (USC ITE) embarked on a technical trip to San Diego, California. We toured the Port of San Diego, learned about the San Diego Association of Governments’...
Touring Esri: Geographic Information Systems Applications and New Insights for USC Students
Published November 15, 2022 by Kailin Liu
This past Tuesday, November 8th, pouring rain and heavy traffic did not deter USC students from visiting the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) Headquarters in Redlands, CA. As students from various academic disciplines toured the beautifully landscaped campus, they learned about the work and history of ESRI, a leader in...
USC Students Tour TraPac Terminal
Published October 17, 2022 by Emily Ng
On October 7, USC students were given the unique opportunity to tour TraPac’s Los Angeles Terminal at the Port of Los Angeles. Students were first given an overview presentation of TraPac and its innovative impact on the logistics and goods movement industry. The presentation was followed by an exclusive tour...
USC Hosts, UCI Wins SoCal ITE Traffic Bowl 2022
Published April 19, 2022 by Jacob Wong
On February 26, 2022, the Southern California Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) held its annual Traffic Bowl competition. The virtual event was hosted by the University of Southern California (USC) chapter and featured ITE chapters from five universities in Southern California: Cal Poly Pomona, California State University...
Transportation Students Tour Port of Hueneme and Distribution Centers
Published October 25, 2021 by Yindong Sun
Twelve USC students, led by USC ITE Advisor and Adjunct Associate Professor Eric Shen, had the opportunity to experience and a technical tour of the Port of Hueneme on Friday, October 22, 2021. This tour was organized by the USC Student Chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and...
Long Beach Airport Gives Students Behind-The-Scenes Technical Tour of New Projects
Published October 1, 2021 by Arnav Chatterjee
On October 1, fifteen USC students had the opportunity to attend a behind-the-scenes tour of Long Beach Airport (LGB). Students arrived outside the airport around 1 PM, where they were greeted by USC Adjunct Associate Professor Eric Shen and Kate Kuykendall, the Public Affairs Officer at LGB. The tour was...
METRANS, PSR, NCST, USC ITE Host Razaviyayn and Ghafelebashi for Congestion Reduction via Personalized Incentives Seminar
Published March 30, 2021 by Hayley Rundle
On March 11, METRANS and the Pacific Southwest University Transportation Center (PSR), along with special partners the National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST) and USC Institute of Transportation Engineer (ITE), hosted their second research webinar of Spring 2021. Titled “Congestion Reduction via Personalized Incentives,” this event showcased the research of...
PSR Students Join ITE SoCal and OCTEC Career Night
Published August 27, 2019 by Lauren Mullarkey-Williams
The Institute of Transportation Engineers Southern California Chapter (ITE SoCal) and Orange County Traffic Engineers Council (OCTEC) invited six ITE student chapters to join them Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at Knott’s Berry Farm for their annual Job Fair, Dinner, and Student Presentations night. Students from PSR partner schools University of...
Institute of Transportation Engineers Student Leadership Summit Calls Five USC Undergraduates to Berkeley
Published February 16, 2019 by Lauren Mullarkey-Williams
The UC Berkeley (Cal) Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Student Chapter held the 6th Annual Student Leadership Summit (SLS) January 25-27, 2019. Over 150 student leaders from nearly 20 universities traveled to the Bay Area to take part in a weekend full of technical, professional, and leadership development, all focused...
CSULB Upsets Defending Champion USC, Beating UCI to Win ITE Traffic Bowl 2018
Published February 25, 2018 by Maya Bouchet
On February 10th, 2018 four students from University of Southern California (USC) headed to UC Irvine to defend their title as prior year champions of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Annual Traffic Bowl. I was a member of the four-person USC team. The competition also included student teams from...
USC Chapter Attends 2018 ITE Western Leadership Summit at Oregon State University
Published February 11, 2018 by Rachel Krusenoski
From January 19 to January 21, 2018, students representing the USC Chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers attended the 5th annual 2018 ITE Western Leadership Summit at Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR. The summit gave students from universities from across the western district the opportunity to collaborate, meet...
PSR Transportation Students Shine During SoCal ITE Student Chapter Night
Published May 17, 2017 by Meiduo Ji
On May 17th, the Institute of Transportation Engineers Southern California Section in collaboration with the Orange County Traffic Engineers Council (OCTEC) held its annual job fair and Student Presentation night at Knott’s Berry Farm Hotel, in Buena Park, California. Representatives of more than ten transportation companies and agencies attended the job...