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Dear ITS Arizona Community, As we close out 2025, the ITS Arizona Board and I wanted to take a moment to express our sincere appreciation for the incredible engagement and collaboration that made this year such a success for ITS Arizona. Personally, I want to recognize the tremendous momentum across our committees— Student Engagement, Outreach, Technical Development, Service, and Social – without our committee chairs and tireless volunteers the accomplishments would not have been possible. |
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This year’s Student Research Summit showcased emerging talent at each of our State Universities; and we were also able to recognize these talented students through our Scholarship awards and Graduate Research Paper competition. Additionally, we have endeavored to encourage upcoming talent in middle- and high-school levels by supporting the Future Cities Competition and participating in classroom visits as part of E-Week. We’re aiming even higher in the coming year to encourage and inspire the next generation of bright minds to choose the transportation industry. On the technical front, we delivered a variety of professional development opportunities; including a webinar to learn about how Nevada DOT is “Building the Network of the Future,” a joint technical luncheon with AZ ITE highlighting the DRIVE Arizona Connected Vehicle Project, and the Day 1 Workshop at the Conference which explored how AI is currently impacting the our transportation system. Looking ahead, we’re positioning to offer a joint technical virtual meeting across Arizona, California, and Nevada; a Transportation Hack‑A‑Thon student challenge; an ITS cybersecurity tabletop exercise; and an AI & Data Governance workshop series. Service to others has continued to remain a core focus of our organization. In July, 26 volunteers from ITS AZ and AZ ITE participated in the Feed My Starving Children meal packing, and we recently finished packing food boxes at St. Mary’s Food Bank on December 5th. We also kept our community connected through social gatherings within our industry such as: Game Show Battle Room, Transportation Engineers Pub Panel, and our Summer Diamondbacks outing in August. At this year’s Annual Conference we set a new attendance record – 423 attendees came together to network, share lessons learned, and to exchange ideas on how emerging technology can benefit travelers across Arizona. None of these accomplishments would be possible without your energy and collaboration. If any of these activities intrigue you – or you have new ideas that you would like to see ITS Arizona undertake – please reach out, or click the link below, to volunteer. Many hands make light work, and we’ll partner with you to ensure your involvement is meaningful without becoming overwhelming. Wishing you and yours a safe and restful holiday season. Thank you for being an essential part of our mission to create a safer and smarter transportation system; we look forward to building on this foundation together in 2026. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! Mike Washkowiak 2025 ITS AZ President
Volunteer Sign-up Link: https://forms.office.com/r/2B79VqPXL8 |
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