Massachusetts Chapter of
the Institute of Transportation Engineers

Welcome to the ITE Massachusetts Chapter website!

Dear ITE members and all those interested in the transportation field:

On behalf of the Massachusetts Chapter of ITE, I want to welcome you to our website. I was recently asked to update our welcome message and was happy to oblige. In doing so, I had a chance to reflect on the last few years of my life within our profession, and in particular, at the Institute.

In the past, I have always been impressed with the meetings and events held by the ITE New England Section in that it draws many of the transportation engineers and planners from across the region to be together in one place. The ITE engineers and planners are, indeed, a small community and the meetings are a chance to see familiar faces, catch up with our friends, trade stories of the challenges that we face, and also gain a little professional and technical knowledge.

Young professionals are the future of our profession and the Institute. Recognizing this, the Massachusetts Chapter endeavors to welcome these young people into our community by sponsoring events, such as the annual Transportation Research Symposium. One thing that is truly unique to the New England region, and in particular Massachusetts, is the density of intellectual capital that exists here. The Symposium is where many graduate students of some of the nation's finest higher learning institutions can showcase their work. The students get a chance to present to and hear critical feedback from professionals at these meetings. The professionals get a chance to see and hear some of the future professionals and academics that we will be working with regularly.

Transportation engineering is a very specific discipline within the engineering field. Transportation engineers work with other engineers, environmental scientists, transportation planners, economic and community development planners, and policy makers. Dr. Joseph Sussman, JR East Professor of Civil and Evnironmental Engineering at MIT, argues that we are entering the dawn of a new era in transportation; one in which transportation engineers will be working with even more professionals, including social scientists and mathematicians, to accomplish a unified goal or objective in creating new transportation systems. Because we work with and will work with so many other professionals, the Massachusetts Chapter also endeavors to inform other professionals of what is important to transportation engineers, by co-sponsoring events with groups such as the Massachusetts Municipal Engineers Association. These meetings provide an opportunity for transportation engineers to explain the latest transportation policy and give technical expertise to municipal engineers. The municipal engineers, in turn, can explain the latest engineering challenges that they face within their communities.

If you have a moment, please feel free to browse our website. It contains useful information on upcoming Massachusetts Chapter of ITE events and board meetings.

I would like to thank the past presidents of the Chapter, some of whom I had the privilege and pleasure of working with professionally, including Guus Driessen, John Mirabito, and Fayssal Husseini. These folks have kept the ball rolling and have gotten the Chapter to where it is today. You may ask, "What do I need to do to become a Chapter member?" The answer is simple: You may already be a member by virtue of your membership in ITE and having a work or residential address within Massachusetts. You may also become a member by actively participating in the business of the Chapter. If you would like to become involved in the Chapter business or just have some suggestions, e-mail us at the Volunteer or Suggestions areas of our website. You may do the same by showing up at one of our monthly organizational meetings held at MassHighway. Directions to and information on the meetings are at our Meetings area of our website. Lastly, I want to thank Maaza Mekuria, Andrea Quenneville, and Kien Ho for their work in setting up and maintaining the Chapter website.

Jim Terlizzi, PE
MAITE Immediate Past President

 

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