ITE UF Student Chapter Wins District 10 Traffic Bowl

The ITE Student Chapter at the University of Florida participated in the 2014 District ITE Collegiate Traffic Bowl on June 25-27 in Clearwater Beach, Fla., and won for the second year in a row. Team members are Don Watson, Thomas Chase and Pruthvi Manjunatha (pictured, left to right), all graduate students in the Transportation Program.

In preparation for the competition, each member studied as many aspects of transportation as possible. “The competition opened my eyes to how transportation engineering includes not only operations, but planning and designing,” Thomas said. Pruthvi and Don also expressed how there were many practical aspects made clear to them in their studies. “There are so many controlled factors and standards for the roadways that you don’t think about as a regular driver,” Don said.

The UF team will now participate in the ITE Traffic Bowl Grand Championship in Seattle, Wash., this August, and the team members are looking forward to the opportunities the competition affords them. Each received a complimentary ITE International Meeting registration and $2,000 travel stipend.

First year Ph.D. student Pruthvi couldn’t be more excited about the competition. “It is a great opportunity to travel and a different level of exposure that I would not get otherwise; getting to meet all the ITE professionals and attend the conference workshops.”

Don was even handed business cards at last year’s Grand Championship with employment offers. “I love getting to promote how much we learn at UF, meeting the other school teams, and speaking one on one with the ITE officers,” Don said. “This is a great opportunity to make contacts in the field.”

Thomas agrees. “It would be amazing to win, but meeting the other school teams and getting to know the practitioners in your field is valuable in itself.”

Congratulations to our UF ITE Team!