ITE Journal January 2018 - 11

INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORS
Walter Okitsu, P.E., PTP, PTOE (F)
Western District
Walter Okitsu is a principal at KOA Corporation
based in Monterey Park, California, USA. In 1987
he co-founded the firm, which has become one of
the largest transportation engineering firms in
Southern California. Prior to that, he worked for
the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation. His experience has been in traffic impact
studies, traffic operations, and design of projects
that include signal synchronization, freeway surveillance, railroad grade
crossings, busways, arterial corridors, safe routes to schools, and bikeways.
Walter has been actively supporting the continuation of California's traffic
engineering P.E. license, a license that is unique to that state.
Walter has served as ITE Western District President (2012-2013) and
Southern California Section President (1997-1998). He is the inaugural
awardee of the ITE Western District's Individual Achievement Award for his
work in maintaining the traffic engineering license in California. Walter has
a bachelor's degree in mathematics-computer science from the University
of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a master's degree in transportation
engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor's
degree in civil engineering from Cal State Los Angeles. He teaches the traffic
engineering and transportation engineering courses at UCLA and serves as
the faculty advisor to UCLA's ITE Student Chapter.
Walter lives in South Pasadena, California with his wife Cindy and
two teenagers.

Carlos A. Ortiz, P.E., T.E., PTOE (M)
Western District
Carlos Ortiz is the chief operating officer and principal
at ADVANTEC Consulting Engineers, Inc. (ADVANTEC). Carlos has 28 years of experience, exclusively in
the field of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and
traffic engineering. He has extensive experience
managing projects and programs for numerous agencies
throughout California, Arizona, and Washington. At
ADVANTEC, Carlos manages the daily operations and
regional projects related to Smart Cities, Connected/Automated Vehicles, Big
Data, and ITS. Recently, he has been involved on multiple speaking engagements
related to the impacts of technologies in our transportation industry.
In addition to serving on the ITE International Board of Direction starting
in 2018, Carlos also serves on ITE's Transportation Systems Management and
Operations (TSM&O) Council. He served as President of ITE Western District
and on ITE's Strategic Initiatives Committee. Carlos also served as President of
ITE Southern California Section, ITE Riverside-San-Bernardino Section, Orange
County Transportation Engineers Council, and American Society of Civil
Engineers (ASCE) Young Member Forum, Orange County Chapter. Carlos also
serves on the Board at ITS California, where he serves as the Outreach Chair for
Connected California Committee and Partnership Chair for ITS California. He is
also a member of ASCE and the American Public Works Association.

Carlos graduated with a bachelor of science in civil engineering from
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Last year, he was invited to
serve on the Industry Advisory Committee at the university. Carlos holds a
civil engineering license in the states of California, Arizona, and Washington
(in process). He is also registered as a Traffic Engineer (T.E.) in the State of
California; and he is certified as a Professional Traffic Operations Engineer
(PTOE). Carlos served in the Boys Scouts during his childhood in Ecuador,
South America, and he is fluent in Spanish.

Eugene (Gene) G. Chartier, P.Eng. (F)
Canadian District
Gene Chartier is a graduate of the University of Waterloo
in Ontario, Canada, with bachelor's and master's degrees
in civil engineering. He has held progressively
responsible positions in the municipal government
sector and private consulting, almost all involving
transportation engineering in some form. He currently
is vice president of Paradigm Transportation Solutions
Limited, a consulting practice offering services in the
specialized fields of transportation planning and traffic engineering, primarily in
the southern Ontario market. The business model is somewhat unique to the
industry, with all Paradigm staff working from home offices across the region.
With more than 26 years of active participation in ITE and service as an
elected or appointed member at the student chapter, Section, District, and international levels, Gene brings knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm to his role on
the ITE International Board of Direction and the Canadian Institute of Transportation Engineers (CITE) Executive Committee and Board. Gene has been married
to his wife Karen for 26 years and has two children, Katherine and Creighton.

Donald (Don) J. McKenzie, P.E. (M)
International District
Don McKenzie is a director and branch manager of
TDG-New Zealand's largest specialist traffic
engineering and transportation planning consultancy.
Don is a chartered professional engineer and has been
a member of ITE since 2003. He provides technical
and professional leadership for the Auckland office of
TDG and has more than 25 years of experience in
transportation planning, traffic engineering design,
road safety assessment, and transportation impact assessment. He regularly
provides expert witness testimony before local and regional planning hearings.
Don is active in an industry advisory role with the University of Auckland
and delivers an annual guest lecture at the University. He was National Administrator of the Transportation Technical Group of the New Zealand Institution
of Professional Engineers for six years and is a regular contributor to the group's
activities both locally and nationally. Don has been the New Zealand representative on the ITE Australian New Zealand Section Executive Committee since 2008
and has contributed to numerous ITE sub-committees and working groups on
matters including person and vehicle trip generation, roundabout design, ITE's
strategic initiatives working group, and the Nominations Committee.
w w w .i t e.or g

Ja nu ar y 2018

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ITE Journal January 2018