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In this issue:

Letter from the Chair 1

Chapter Announcements 2

Our Members 2

Recap of Past Events 3

Member Spotlight: Millie Hayes 4

Hot Topic: Decade of Action

for Road Safety 4

Upcoming Events 5

Become Involved! 5

2011 Corporate Sponsors 6

Dear Members:

Where has the time gone? We are already in summer,

halfway through the year, and so much has changed

within YPT-Austin. We have made strides that have helped to strengthen our organization. Soon, we shall be

celebrating our first anniversary.

In the last few months, YPT-Austin has hosted a number

of roundtables and other networking events. We would like to thank our members for the strong turnout at these

events. We ask that you continue your support by inviting

your colleagues to future events. In August, join us for ―Blues on the Green‖, Austin’s longest running free music

series, at Zilker Park. Also, come out to our next roundtable in September where Ms. Jana McCann, AIA,

from McCann Adams Studio, will be speaking.

We have also experienced a change in the Chapter’s Executive Board. Wenxing Liu and Migdalia Carrion have stepped down from their role as Vice Chairs for Programs. Wenxing is

starting her career abroad, after graduating in May from UT. Migdalia has taken a leave of absence to focus on her upcoming doctoral qualifying exams. We appreciate the

contributions both Wenxing and Migdalia have made for the chapter in planning and organizing our initial roundtable and happy hour events that have increased our

membership. They have also been instrumental in strengthening relationships with the WTS

Heart of Texas Chapter and the ASCE YMF Austin Chapter by coordinating networking events with these professional organizations. Although we are sad to see them leave, we are

confident that Stephen Ratke, who joined us as our new Program Chair, will continue to build on their work.

Our latest development is that we have found corporate sponsorship. We are incredibly

grateful to our Partner Level sponsors: AECOM and Rios Engineering. Both companies have supported our organization since the beginning, and we could not make our events happen

without their help.

As one of the newest professional organizations in Austin, we have begun to carve out our

place in the city. However, we need your help to continue to grow. How would you like us to

help you improve your career? What kind of social activities and networking events would you like to participate in the future? Do write in to us and help us make Austin one of the

best places for young transportation professionals to thrive.

Sincerely,

Katherine Kortum, YPT-Austin Chair

Letter from the Chair

Summer 2011 Volume 1, Issue II

Newsletter Young Professionals in Transportation—Austin Chapter

2010-2011 Austin Executive Board

Chair

Katherine Kortum University of Texas

Deputy Chair Millie Hayes

FHWA

Vice Chair - Administration

April Sandoval

AECOM

Vice Chair - Communication

Sowmya Chandrasekhar Alliance Transportation Group

Vice Chair - Finance

Luis Lopez FHWA

Vice Chair - Membership Stephanie Shupe

Jones & Carter

Vice Chair - Programs

Stephen Ratke

FHWA

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Chapter Announcements Congratulations to Tom Gerrity, Lindsay Liggett, Christian Sax, and Riley Sladek for recently passing the PE exam!

Congratulations to our UT Spring 2011 graduates:

Allison Kaplan (MS, Global Policy) has recently completed her research internship at the City of Austin Bicycle Program,

and is planning to stay in Austin this summer.

Wenxing Liu (MS, Transportation Engineering) has returned to Shanghai, China, where she will soon be working as a

practicing engineer.

Shea Suski (MS, Community and Regional Planning, Transportation Specialization) is headed to Denver for his new

position as Transportation Planner at Felsburg Holt & Ullevig.

Congratulations to Stephanie Shupe for her promotion to a full-time position at Jones & Carter!

We are pleased to announce two new corporate sponsors for the YPT-Austin Chapter. We would like to thank AECOM and Rios Engineering for their generous support.

We welcome Stephen Ratke to the YPT-Austin Executive Board. He will be serving as Vice Chair for Programs.

If you are interested in joining an informal study group for the FE or PE exams, please email yptaustin@gmail.com.

YPT-Austin continues to grow in membership, through a diverse class of transportation enthusiasts in the Austin area. Currently, our chapter boasts 65 supporters. In order to visualize the membership distribution, we created two figures

classifying membership by sector and profession. This can be extremely useful when planning events, reaching out to new

members, or collaborating among members.

Membership by sector is surprisingly widespread, with representation in the private

and public sectors, as well as in academia. As YPT-Austin acquires more members, we hope to grow in each sector to ideally achieve an even distribution among all three

categories.

Looking at membership by profession, YPT-Austin has more engineering members

than any other profession, with nearly 50% of the membership pool. Academia,

planners, and others represent the other half of the members. We aim to increase membership across the board, but specifically target the various non-engineering

professions, as we pride ourselves in being a diverse organization.

We offer two categories of membership— Members and Friends. Anybody can become

a Friend of YPT for free, but you can show your commitment to YPT’s mission by

becoming a paid Member. Benefits of both include:

Upgrade your membership by paying the annual membership dues of $20 on our National website (http://ypt.transportation.org/) or contact Stephanie Shupe.

YPT-Austin membership distribution by sector and profession.

Sector

Profession

Our Members

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Recap of Past Events

May Roundtable Event Mr. Brian Van De Walle, Senior Traffic Engineer with Kimley-Horn, was our featured speaker for the May roundtable event. He engaged us in a lively discussion on the topic of alternative intersection designs. Seventeen YPT members attended this

event— our highest recorded turnout yet. We hope to continue this trend of increasing attendance at future events.

June Networking Event YPT-Austin hosted a happy hour at The Highball, a popular and retro bowling alley in South Austin. Although we had no ap-parent bowling champions in our group, everyone who attended the event admitted to having a great time. We intend to

come back soon!

July Roundtable Event Ms. Lisa Loftus-Otway, Research Associate at the UT Center for Transportation Research, presented on protecting and pre-serving freight facilities and corridors. She discussed the importance of recognizing freight facilities in local planning and the

need of incorporating standards to be considered in zoning around freight corridors.

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Member Spotl ight : Mi l l ie Hayes Millie Hayes is an Area Engineer for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). She initially joined the agency as a student in the Iowa Division

office in 2005. She graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor of

Science in Civil Engineering, with an emphasis in transportation, in May 2007.

After graduation, she continued her FHWA work in the Professional

Development Program in the Connecticut Division, which included assignments in New York and North Carolina. She then transferred to the

Texas Division, where she has provided oversight for the TxDOT Atlanta, Dallas, Paris, and Tyler Districts.

Why did you become involved with YPT?

I attended the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting twice, where I was able to participate in YPT-sponsored events. I believe that YPT

provides networking opportunities, not only within engineering, but across the entire transportation profession. When asked if there would be local interest while helping develop a regional chapter, I was

confident that there would be others in Austin beside myself who would be interested in starting one.

When did you realize you wanted a career as a transportation engineer? I was in middle school when I decided to become a civil engineer. Particularly, I wanted to pursue a career in bridge design. In

my freshman year of college, I enrolled in one of the required introductory transportation courses and decided this was something I would like to follow.

Had you not followed your current career path, what other profession would you have pursued? I would have chosen to exercise the other side of my brain by studying English, journalism, or criminal justice prior to attending

law school. I also think it would have been fun to work at Legoland.

As a young professional, what advice would you give those expecting to graduate or just entering workforce? As young people, we bring a distinct level of energy to the transportation profession. We should embrace what we’re passionate

about and have fun while at work, but we should remember to maintain a high degree of professionalism.

Now that college is over, what do you do for fun?

I enjoy cooking, going to happy hours, and spending time with friends and family. I ran the 3M and Austin Half Marathons

earlier this year. Next, I would like to train for a marathon.

Hot Topic : Decade of Act ion for Road Safety Aust in part ic ipates in g lobal road sa fety campaign k ickof f

On May 11, 2011, the City of Austin joined the United Nations (UN), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Fédération Inter-

nationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Road Safety Foundation, and more than 100 countries around the world to participate in the Decade of Action for Road Safety campaign. Mayor Lee Leffingwell, Austin Police Department Chief Art Acevedo, and the Austin

Transportation Department attended the City’s kickoff.

The Decade of Action unites the world to raise awareness and promote safe road practices to reduce traffic accidents. According

to their studies, 1.3 million lives are lost and up to 50 million people are injured all over the world due to traffic accidents each

year. In the US, the death toll continues to exceed 30,000 fatalities annually; in Texas, the toll is 3,000 fatalities annual ly. Traf-fic injuries are a leading cause of death for young people around the globe. However, these deaths can be prevented with steps

taken by governments and non-profit organizations.

The UN Road Safety Collaboration developed a global action plan to improve safety. The plan promotes five pillars of action:

Building road safety management capacity

Upgrading the safety of road infrastructure

Further developing the safety of vehicles

Enhancing the behavior of road users

Improving emergency services

If implemented, the measures could save millions of lives.

(Continued on page 5)

Official UN Decade of Action safety tag.

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Upcoming Events

Mail: PO Box 300753 Austin, Texas 78703-0753

E-mail: YPTAustin@gmail.com

Website: http://ypt.transportation.org

Join us on Facebook!

If you would like to submit an article or advertise your business in our quarterly newsletter, please contact

April Sandoval (april.sandoval@aecom.com).

Become Involved!

Keep an eye out for actions and messages promoting the Decade of Action in the US and around the world. The yellow UN safe-

ty tag is the symbol for the campaign. Grover of the popular children’s TV show Sesame Street has been named the Global Road Safety Ambassador, and will be sporting the tag in a series of public service announcements. In Texas, TxDOT was one of

many partners that launched ―Talk.Text.Crash.‖ campaign in April to combat distracted driving. Additionally, TxDOT continues to support the ―Teens in the Driver’s Seat‖, ―Who’s Driving Tonight?‖, and other important public awareness campaigns.

For more information on the global initiative, visit the official Decade of Action website at www.decadeofaction.org or visit the TxDOT website at http://www.txdot.gov/safety/. If you would also like to show your support, please contact Stephen Ratke for

a Decade of Action pin or necklace.

(Continued from page 4)

Mayor Leffingwell speaks at the May 11th Decade of Action kickoff in Austin. Photo courtesy of the Austin Police Department.

93.3 KGSR Blues on the Green

Where: Zilker Park

Time: 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM

September Roundtable Event with

Ms. Jana McCann, AIA

Where: George Washington Carver Museum

Time: 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Chapter Annual Business Meeting

Where: George Washington Carver Museum

Time: 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM 17

OCT

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AUG

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SEPT

October Networking Event

Where: Icenhauer’s on Rainey Street

Time: 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM 27

OCT

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2011-2012 Corporate Sponsors

Supports the YPT Austin Chapter — The Future of Transportation in Central Texas