ITE Journal January 2018 - 25

Transportation, my first Statics course,
and the opportunity for a six-month
assignment with the Connecticut
Highway Department changed my mind.
The choice was absolutely confirmed
when I spent two co-op sessions doing
design for a concrete forming company.
During my next work session I went to
the New Haven office of Wilbur Smith &
Associates, where I had two great mentors,
and finished up my co-op experience
with the Boston, MA, USA office of Alan
M. Voorhees & Associates (again great
mentors and a wide variety of projects in a
smaller office setting), where I was offered
employment after graduation.
ITEJ: What project or experience in your
career has made you the most proud?
JK: I have to answer this with a project
and an experience. First, the experience-
being with a group of exceptionally smart
people who left the security of a larger
firm to establish a boutique transportation
planning and engineering firm in 1979
and growing that firm from the initial four
to what is now a 1,300-person, employ-

ee-owned organization that still provides
services in transportation engineering and
planning, but has added land development
and planning, environmental engineering,
planning and sciences, and power
distribution and permitting. I have stayed
technically active on the transportation
side, getting involved in projects in many
of our 24 East Coast offices and have been
able to balance my administrative time
with ITE activities over the past 30+ years.
The Project-without a doubt, Boston's
"Big Dig." What started out as a subcontractor role to develop traffic management
plans for an early utility relocation project
turned into a ten-year series of section
designs as either a prime or sub-consultant, overall project management
traffic design responsibilities, and finally
wrapped up with a subcontract to the
contractor responsible for removal of the
elevated artery, a six lane viaduct, and
the final surface restoration. The later
project carried a construction value of
approximately $900M. Unlike the design
contracts, which provide guidance on
what would be required of the contractor
during construction with the under-

standing that the contractor can modify
the design with the appropriate back-up,
the contractor role took that guidance,
changed it, and developed detailed plans
for day-to-day operations (more than
1,700 separate design packages ranging
from one to fifteen plan sheets) and
for 65 major traffic movements within
work zones, generally involving 50 to
100 plan sheets and up to 25 controlled
intersections.
ITEJ: Embracing change was a major
focus of your time as International
President. What advice do you have for
young professionals starting out in their
careers who seek to create change?
JK: Give yourself some time. Even
extraordinary individuals take time to
mature. You will not become a project
manager in six months or a year, so don't
be impatient. Seek out individuals who
you would like to serve as your mentors.
Employers would be the logical place
to identify someone, but don't be afraid
to seek outside help that you might
find in a technical/professional society.
Get involved in one or more technical
organizations that support your passion.
You will need a base to support and
flesh-out your ideas. Find an employer
that is a good fit for what you are looking
to change. I could have identified this as
the most important piece of advice, but
for advancement of your desire to seek
change, you must understand there may
be a series of choices available, and it is
through experience that you will make the
correct choice. Never lose sight of where
this profession has come from. No matter
the extent or type of change, you will
more than likely be challenged, and that
history will help you defend your ideas, so
carry a true passion for what you believe
in, but bring proof of its validity as you try
to "sell" it. And a little premature grey in
your hair doesn't hurt.
w w w .i t e.or g

Ja nu ar y 2018

25
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ITE Journal January 2018
