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NEWS
An U p d a t e From t he Hear t of Texas Ch ap t er o f W TS
2 014 Vo l.1
WTS Teaches How to Build “Sweet” Bridges
at Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day......Page 7
IN THIS ISSUE
2
Message from the President
4
Chapter Announcements
5
Member Update
5
Student Chapter News
6
New Member Event
6
Professional Development Icebreaker Event
7
Introduce A Girl to Engineering Day
8
Meetings at Maggiano’s
9
Corporate Partners
11
WTS Board Contact Information
12
Upcoming Events
Cover Photo: Matt Valentine, The Texas Exes
Heart of Texas
Board of Directors
Lisa Loftus-Otway, UT Austin,
President
Odette Tan, Travis County
Vice President
Lindsay Wood, HNTB, Secretary
April Sandoval, HDR,
Co-Treasurer
Sarah Janak, UT Austin,
Co-Treasurer
Heart of Texas
Committee Chairs
Ashley Williams, UT Austin
Community Outreach
Haley Norman, Klotz
Associates
Corporate Partnership
Renee Hurtado, DKS Associates
Membership
Jackie Sartor, CP&Y
Gala
Nicola Gheno, Bury
Transportation YOU
Jennifer Bennett-Reumuth, City of
Austin and Tonia Norman, TxDOT
Professional Development
Vicki McEvoy, K. Friese &
Associates,
Programs
Lin Zhou, CDM Smith
Recognitions
Kelsey Ahern, Cambridge Systematics
Blanca Juarez, UT Austin
Scholarship & Student Liaison
Comments? Questions?
Want to Contribute?
Tell our Editor!
ashleyw@mail.utexas.edu
512-232-3085
A Message from the President...
It’s the end of the first quarter of 2014 and we are fast approaching our 10th Annual
Scholarship and Transportation YOU Fundraising Gala on April 4th. I joined the chapter after
attending the 5th Gala and I take great pride in seeing our chapter go from strength to
strength in terms of membership numbers, events and activities, and continued success in
fundraising. Thank you to everyone who has helped to get us to our 10th Gala, Committee
chairs and members, Corporate Partners, gala attendees, anyone who has helped to get a
silent/live auction item, made a bid and helped us to set such a high bar. Just a reminder,
the RSVP site for Gala closes on March 25th, so if you have not booked a ticket you have less
than a week to do so.
The first quarter, has seen our chapter membership continue to grow—currently we
stand at 123 members—and renewals are steady and strong which is a good sign that we continue to provide topnotch events, networking opportunities and activities and initiatives that help to promote women in transportation.
Our Annual Business Meeting lunch in January had the highest number of attendees ever and saw us give out Honorary
Memberships to Gary Schatz at the City of Austin’s Transportation Department and Commissioner Valerie Covey from
Williamson county. Both Gary and Valerie have been great supporters of our industry and our chapter. Gary emceed our
professional development day last year. Commissioner Covey as many know has also been a supporter of ours for many
years, emceeing our professional development day 4 years ago and being a stalwart supporter and attendee at our Gala.
Please join me in welcoming them as our 2014 Honorary Members.
February was our first luncheon of 2014 with Lisa Weston from CAMPO updating us on the 2040 regional transportation planning efforts. February also saw us undertaking our first Transportation YOU event of 2014 at Introduce a Girl
to Engineering Day at UT-Austin. Our awesome chapter volunteers helped these young girls build “sweet” bridges from
matchsticks and marshmallows. As a volunteer who helped to put 80 matchsticks and 40 marshmallows into bags on a
Friday night, hosted at TTI’s offices, the success of the day was well worth our sore fingers! March was our 2nd annual
new member event, which had over 25 folks in attendance. It was great to see so many new members wanting to become involved, and it gives me great confidence in the future of our chapter, as new members become committee chairs,
executive committee leaders, and members of the international board and WTS Foundation. Speaking of which, please
consider joining a committee, our chairs are always looking for new talent to ensure that we continue to create events
that you want to attend. In addition, joining a committee is a great way to get to know industry colleagues better and
make new friends.
Our next quarter’s events are also being planned, and there are plenty. The UT-Austin Student WTS organization is
hosting a professional development night on March 26, members are welcome to attend. The Gala will be on April 4th,
on April 11th we are taking our mentees from the Ann Richards School on a boat tour of the Boardwalk Construction
with the City of Austin (Corporate Partners have received an email invitation), April 12th sees WTS: HOT hosting a “sweet”
bridge competition for the Girls in STEM Annual conference by Girlstart, and on April 23rd the Professional Development
Committee will be hosting a professional development icebreaker event. The WTS International Conference starts up
May 14th in Portland, Oregon and the 3rd Annual Bike and brunch ride is in early planning stages for May. June will see
“Lattes and Leadership” begin its summer run and our Corporate Partners Reception is currently scheduled for June 26th.
As always, if you have any questions about WTS or the heart of Texas Chapter, please do not hesitate to contact me or
anyone else on our board. Thank you for your continued support of WTS and I look forward to seeing you at the Gala on
April
4th. Lisa Loftus-Otway
President, WTS Heart of Texas Chapter
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You are invited to our
Casino Royale!
Enjoy the games, bid on a variety of auction items, and take a chance at winning great raffle prizes!
April 4, 2014 6:00 PM
Crowne Plaza Austin
6121 IH-35 N Austin, TX 78752
Dress to Kill
(Come in Black Tie or as your Favorite Bond Character)
Tickets are now available!
45 Students/Government/Retirees • $85 Members • $120 Nonmembers • $150 Couples (2 tickets) • $1000 Table for 8
$
You Only Live Twice
RSVP by March 25, 2014 at
http://www.wtsevents.org/chapter/HeartofTexas/
or contact Jackie Sartor at jsartor@cpyi.com for more information
ANNOUNCEMENTS...
PRELIMINARY PROGRAM
As of March 1, 2014
2014 WTS Annual Conference... Join us in Portland, OR!
THE POWER OF
CONNECTION
May 14-16, 2014
The Annual Conference is the WTS annual networking event of the year. It
attracts more than 500 corporate and governmental industry leaders worldwide.
Private corporations, public agencies and government officials invested in every
transportation mode will exhibit, present, learn, and network. Eight distinct
events, including an opening night reception and a banquet dinner, will showcase
the tremendous leaders represented. You don’t want to miss attending this multimodal conference!
The 2014 WTS Annual Conference keynote speakers are Cokie Roberts and Kat
Cole.
For more info visit:
WTS ANNUAL CONFERENCE
May 14 – 16, 2014
https://www.wtsinternational.org/networking/annual-conference/
Volunteer for Girls in STEM Conference
The Girls in STEM Conference features hands-on workshops for
girls interested in learning more about STEM fields. It is
facilitated by over 200 volunteers and presenters for over
500 girls from the Austin area 4th through 8th grades.
WTS will be hosting the “Sweet” Bridge Competition and is looking
for volunteers to help set-up and present.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
9:30am-3:30pm
If you would like to volunteer please contact ngheno@buryinc.com by March 28, 2014.
Join the WTS Student Chapter for a Professional Development Event
Resume and Interview Tips
March 26, 5:30 - 7 pm in the Student Activity Center (SAC) Room 1.106
Upcoming Professional Development Events:
- Professional Icebreaker Event – Wednesday, April 23rd at the LBJ School of Public Affairs
North Lobby from 5:00 – 7:30 pm; snacks and beverages provided; members only event
- 8th Annual Professional Development Seminar - September 10th at Maggiano’s!- Ideas
for speakers still needed - please email Tonia at toniaclue@austin.rr.com or Jennifer at
jennbennett@gmail.com .
- Committee meetings-fourth Wednesday of every month. Please get involved and
volunteer - great way to network! Email Tonia and Jennifer for more information.
Watch for email updates and check our website:
http://www.wtsinternational.org/heartoftexas/
Like us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! @WTSHOTChapter.
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Member Update
We’re still growing! We currently have a total of 123 members!
Please join us in welcoming our new and renewing members!
Jennifer Batchelder, Gorrondona & Associates
Annick Beaudet, City of Austin
Chris Bilich, Aguirre & Fields
Gwendolyn Brown, Surveying and Mapping (SAM)
Sarah Calfee, HNTB Corporation
Kerri Collins, Pape-Dawson Engineers
Valerie Covey, Williamson County Precinct 3
Diane Cowin, URS Corporation
Jennifer Duthie, UT Center for Transportation Research
Jon Engelke, AECOM
Erin Gonzales, Brown & Gay Engineers
Paula Gruber, Prime Strategies
Erin Grushon, HNTB Corporation
Gayle Heath, Alliance Transportation Group
Angelina Herrera, Rios Engineering
Katherine Holtz, SAM- Construction Services
Renee Hurtado, DKS Associates
Keri Johnson, Alliance Transportation Group
Lindsay Liggett, Jacobs
Belen Losada, Atkins
Sergio Martinez, University of Texas at Austin
Vicki McEvoy, K Friese & Associates
John McNeese, HDR Engineering
Nikelle Meade, Brown McCarroll
Rachel Niven, Cintra US
Sarah Overmyer, UT Center for Transportation Research
Lauramaria Pedraza Sanchez, University of Texas at Austin
Rodolfo Rivera, RJ Rivera Associates
Nicole Rockey, CP&Y
Gary Schatz, City of Austin Transportation Department
Elizabeth Smith, Terracon Consultants
Odette Tan, Travis County
Lauren Van Andel, CP&Y
Marie Walters, Prime Strategies
Cindy Washburn, Prime Strategies
Caitlin White, Capital Metro Transportation Authority
Kate Wilder, RS&H
Monica Wommack, BD Collaborative
Mia Zmud, MZ Insights
For information on how to join, visit: http://www.wtsinternational.org/heartoftexas//membership/
Student Chapter News:
WTS Student Chapter President Chosen for
Vanguard Class of 2014!
Adrian Lipscombe
Adrian Lipscombe has been selected for the Vanguard class of 2014. Vanguard is an
annual gathering of the best and brightest young urban leaders working to improve cities
across sectors, including urban planning, community development, entrepreneurship,
government, transportation, sustainability, design, art and media.
This year, 40 rising stars (out of over 500 applicants) were selected, whose bright ideas for
cities, experience in the field, and ambition for the future all show great promise to become
members of the new Vanguard class. The Vanguard conference will be held in Chattanooga
Tenn. on April 24-26th.
Adrian says—when asked about her presentation—she will, “express the need for
understanding critical race issues in city planning. We need to take time to understand a
city’s past challenges with racism and segregation as we continue to renew and redevelop
low-income high minority areas within cities. As urban leaders, we need to reflect upon our
role as a conduit between the organizations we work for and the communities we serve.”
Congratulations!
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2nd Annual New Member Event
Renee Hurtado
The WTS HOT Chapter has so much to offer its members that
sometimes it is hard to know where to begin! Transportation YOU?
Professional Development Committee? Program Lunches and more!?!
The second annual New Member Event was held at Z’Tejas in the
Arboretum on March 6, 2014. There were approximately 20 attendees
including potential new members, new members, and current
members.
Aside from enjoying appetizers and happy hour, the event was
a great way to meet other new WTS members and learn about the
various programs, committees, and events that the Heart of Texas
chapter has to offer. We are always looking for volunteers to help in
whatever capacity fits your schedule. Please contact Renee Hurtado (srh@
dksassociates.com) for an informational packet with committee descriptions,
the 2014 calendar of events, and a list of firms and agencies represented in the
Heart of Texas chapter.
Professional Development Icebreaker Event
Tonia Norman
Have you ever wanted to get to know more about the professional careers of our chapter members? The HOT
Chapter Professional Development Committee is hosting a special Professional Icebreaker for chapter members, the
student chapter of WTS at UT-Austin, and students of the LBJ School of Public Affairs to share their professional
development stories in a fun, relaxed atmosphere.
This Professional Icebreaker event will be held on April 23rd from 5:00 – 7:30 pm at the LBJ School of Public Affairs
North Lobby on the UT-Austin campus. Some of the Austin transportation community’s best networkers will serve
as facilitators for each table, guiding the participants to share about their careers (past, present, and future) with
icebreaker questions. These skilled networkers will also provide participants with an invaluable take-away: their
personal tips on effective professional and personal networking. Chapter members and students alike will benefit
from this chance to get to know one another better, learn about the challenges and opportunities presented in the
diverse transportation fields represented within our chapter, and identify potential connections for future professional
development.
Mark your calendars for what will sure to be a fun and educational event. Look for the opportunity to register
coming soon. Contact Tonia Norman at toniaclue@austin.rr.com or Jennifer Bennett-Reumuth at jennbennett@gmail.
com for more information.
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WTS Teaches How to Build
“Sweet” Bridges at
Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day
Nicola Gheno
Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day is an international event celebrated during
Engineers Week each year. On February 22, 2014, the Women in Engineering
Program hosted the 13th annual Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (Girl Day)
at the University of Texas in the engineering campus along with the help of over
700 volunteers. This year, WTS sponsored the Marshmallow and Toothpick Bridge
Challenge activity to fourth through eighth grade participants at the event.
With more than 2,700
kids in attendance this year,
WTS volunteers were thrilled to see all the enthusiastic
faces of the future engineers that stepped foot through
our workshop. Students where challenged by the
WTS volunteers to experiment with different design
alternatives that would build the strongest bridge. The
bridge competition gave students an opportunity to learn
problem solving strategies and utilize critical thinking
skills while making the connection between theory and
real-world applications.
Through trial and error, they learned the importance of
trusses in bridge design and the importance of determining
the weakest link. Students tested their structures by loading
jolly ranchers to the surface deck similarly to vehicles crossing
the span of a bridge. The students were quick to pull their
bridge before it collapsed to re-build and test it again.
It was a delight to hear about the little girl who built a bridge
that could withstand nearly a hundred jolly ranchers knowing
that her structure may have only weighed less than a hundred
grams!
Once the bridges were tested, students had smiles of
accomplishments stretched across their faces as they held
their “sweet” bridge in triumph and in attainment. It was a very
rewarding day for all those that participated including both volunteers and students.
Many thanks to WTS members Mary Jo Galindo, Cheryl Goodgame, Odette Tan, Nia Ray, Danielle Hannah,
Lisa Loftus-Otway, Linda DuPriest, Ashley Williams, Blanca Juarez, Ipek Sener, Charlotte Gilpin, and Laura
Friello for making this event a success. It couldn’t have been accomplished without you!
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Meetings@
Maggianos
President, Lisa Loftus-Otway, Member of the Year, Jackie Sartor, CP&Y, and
Honorary Member, Commissioner Valerie Covey
Annual Business Meeting
January Lunch Program 2014
Each year, the WTS-Heart of Texas
Chapter holds an Annual Business
Meeting that summarizes all the
events our chapter hosted during
the previous year, as well as an
outlook for future programs. At this
year’s meeting on January 15th,
our 2012–2013 board members
were recognized for their valuable
contributions and dedication to WTS,
and the 2013–2014 board officially
took office.
The
meeting
began
with
President
Lisa
Loftus-Otway
providing an overview of our
chapter’s accomplishments in 2013,
including a recap of our program
lunches, happy hours, Lattes and
Leadership series, our Professional
Development Seminar, our 9th
Annual Transportation Scholarship
and Fundraiser, the WTS Student
Chapter at UT, and a huge thank you
to our Corporate Partners. She also
introduced Ms. Jackie Sartor, CP&Y,
for her much deserved recognition
as WTS - Heart of Texas Chapter’s
Member of the Year! Jackie was
recognized for her amazing work
making our Gala a huge success year
after year.
Also recognized were the WTSHeart of Texas Chapter’s Honorary
Members for 2014: Commissioner
Valerie Covey, Williamson County
Precinct 3, and Gary Schatz, Assistant
Director of Transportation, City of
Austin. They were selected due
to their strong leadership in our
transportation community and the
fact that they truly personify the
mission of WTS. We are very excited
to have Valerie and Gary join our
membership this year, so please join
us in welcoming them to the WTS Heart of Texas Chapter!
WTS Lunch Programs are
held the 3rd Wednesday
of the month, January-May
and October-December.
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February Lunch Program 2014
Our February speaker was Dr. Lisa
Weston, Program Manager for the
CAMPO 2040 Regional Transportation Plan. Dr. Weston provided an
update on the 2040 regional transportation planning effort currently
underway for the six county CAMPO
region.
CAMPO coordinates regional transportation planning with local jurisdictions and transportation providers Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell, Hays,
Travis, and Williamson Counties. She
has lived in Austin since 1989 and
holds degrees from Mount Holyoke
College, UC Berkeley, and the University of Texas at Austin.
Lisa has worked in city and regional planning for 13 years in both the
public and private sector working on
projects related to air quality, light
rail, bicycle and pedestrian planning,
and long-range transportation planning. In addition, Lisa was a visiting
professor at Texas A&M University.
2014 Corporate Partners
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Engineering
Construction
Environmental
Architecture
www.atkinsglobal.com/northamerica
800.477.7275
CREATING A BETTER TOMORROW
The success of our WTS Heart of Texas chapter
could not be attained without the support of
our corporate partners. From the Board, our
members and our scholarship winners, we
greatly appreciate all the contributions from
our 2012 corporate partners.
If you are interested in learning more about the
Corporate Partners program, please contact
Haley Norman at Haley.Norman@klotz.com.
Ranked #1 in Transportation by Engineering
News-Record, we consistently deliver innovative,
sustainable, reliable and visionary projects.
www.aecom.com
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Get Involved!
Want to know more about WTS? Have suggestions for our membership, or
just want to help out?
Contact
Email
Phone
loftusotway@mail.utexas.edu
512.232.3072
Odette.Tan@co.travis.tx.us
512.854.7587
liwood@hntb.com
512.691.2213
April.Sandoval@hdrinc.com
sarah.lind@mail.utexas.edu
512.479.1628
512.232.3113
melinda.clary@urs.com
512.419.5822
Ashley Williams, Communications Chair
Center for Transportation Research, UT Austin
ashleyw@mail.utexas.edu
512.232.3085
Haley Norman, Corporate Partner Program
Klotz Associates
Haley.Norman@klotz.com
512.328.5771
jsartor@cpyi.com
512.492.6846
srh@dksassociates.com
512.329.2723
ngheno@buryinc.com
512.328.0011
jennbennett@gmail.com
toniaclue@austin.rr.com
512.656.7578
Vicki McEvoy, Program Chair
K. Friese & Associates
vmcevoy@kfriese.com
512.338.1704
Lin Zhou, Recognitions Chair
CDM Smith
zhoulin@cdmsmith.com
512-592-3874
kahern@camsys.com
bjuarez@austin.utexas.edu
512.691.8506
512.471.6214
Lisa Loftus-Otway, President
Center for Transportation Research, UT Austin
Odette Tan, Vice President
Travis County Transportation & Natural
Resources
Lindsay Wood, Secretary
HNTB
April Sandoval, HDR, and
Sarah Janak, Center for Transportation
Research, UT Austin, Co-Treasurers
Melinda Clary, Immediate Past President
URS
Jackie Sartor, Fundraising/ Gala Chair
CP&Y
Renee Hurtado, Membership Chair
DKS Associates
Nicola Gheno, Transportation YOU Chair
Bury
Jennifer Bennett-Reumuth, City of Austin,
and Tonia Norman, TxDOT, Professional
Development Co-Chairs
Kelsey Ahern, Cambridge Systematics, and
Blanca Juarez, UT Austin, Scholarship &
Student Liaison Co-Chairs
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Sunday
April 2014
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
1
2
3
10th Annual Gala
& Scholarship
Fundraiser
Transportation
YOU Field Trip
Saturday
4
Girls in STEM
Conference
6
7
8
9
10
13
14
15
Programs Lunch, 16
Nathan Wilkes, City
of Austin
17
18
19
20
21
22
Professional Ice- 23
breaker Event, LBJ
School
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Sunday
May 2014
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
11
5
Friday
12
Saturday
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
WTS International 2014 Annual Conference, Portland
Programs Lunch, 21
22
23
TBA
24
18
19
20
25
26
27
Sunday
28
29
June 2014
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
30
Friday
31
Saturday
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Lattes &
17
Leadership Event,
TBA
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Corporate Partner26
Event
27
28
29
30
http://www.wtsinternational.org/heartoftexas//events/
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