Pictured above:  ITSPA-ITSNJ-ITSNY joint coordination meeting hosted at DVRPC, March 2016

FROM THE PRESIDENT!

Greetings!

Thank you to everyone who has attended various ITSPA events throughout the state. On April 15^th, ITSPA co-hosted an Innovation Labs Tour with Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, with proceeds benefiting the ITSPA Student Scholarship fund.  Thank you to Board Members Dom D’Andrea and Courtney Ehrlichman for working so hard on the event to make it successful.  They’ve been especially busy since Pittsburgh became a finalist for the Smart Cities Challenge – good luck Pittsburgh!  On April 28^th, the first ITSPA Legislative Roundtable took place and was an equally big success – see the summary below.  Thank you to Board Member Larry Bankert who leads that subcommittee for us.  We have more events in the works, so pay attention for future ebrief announcements and join us!

In March, the second annual ITSPA-ITSNJ-ITSNY Coordination Meeting took place at DVRPC’s offices to share highlights of what has transpired with each of our chapters over the past year.  Policy and procedures, strategic planning, workforce development, and Papal Visit planning were the main topics covered.  

I’m excited for this year’s Annual Meeting, co-hosted with MASITE, to be held from August 28 to 30 in State College.  On the second day in the afternoon, we will have an autonomous vehicle/emergency response demo at the PennState Test Track, co-hosted with ITS America.  Steve McGinley and Drew Horgan are ITS Pennsylvania’s co-chairs this year, so reach out to them if you have any questions. Please be on the lookout for a call for session topics.  Make sure your piece of the industry is being represented.  Is there something that you have been involved with that you would like to highlight?  Have you wanted to learn more about a particular technology or topic?

We had our best response for the student scholarship drive EVER!  Thank you to the leadership of Allie Slizofski and all the board members who reached out to their contacts and schools to advertise it.  Our winner this year, Danielle Schroeder from Drexel University, met with Allie and myself to talk about the industry in general.  Before having Board Member Dan Corey speak at one of her classes, she barely knew there was this world of ITS and TSMO out here.  We had a great conversation with her, and highlighted all the opportunities our field has to offer.  Just maybe she’ll switch her focus from structural engineering?! So what can we do about this? OUTREACH!  Even if it’s just one-on-one.  Let’s keep pushing to get more students interested in what we do.

Our membership drive is in full swing.  Don’t forget to renew, and if you’re not currently a member, we’d love to have you join our society.   

Finally, I continue to encourage all of us to use our membership to the fullest – attend events and make connections with students and other agencies, companies, or organizations – whether public or private.  Let’s keep building our industry and making it as strong as it can be in Pennsylvania!

Sincerely,
Laurie Matkowski
ITS PA President