Awards
Explore ITS-NY’s awards recognizing excellence in intelligent transportation, including ITS Outstanding Projects and Project of the Year.
ITS-NY Distinguished Members
Renamed in 2019 to the ITS-NY “Dotty Drinkwater” Distinguished Member Award, this award recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution toward achieving the mission of ITS-NY over the past year.
Nomination Criteria
- Substantiation that the individual has significantly contributed over the past 12 months to the direct fulfillment of ITS-NY goals and objectives.
- Nominated individual must be employed by an organization which has been an ITS-NY member for at least 3 years.
- Individual must be nominated and seconded by ITS-NY Members from two separate organizations.
- Individual must generally be well regarded and respected by his/her peers within the ITS marketplace.
- No self nominations.
Recipients
- 2025
- Jeffrey E. Randall, P.E., PTOE
- 2024
- Dario Saravia, P.E.
- 2023
- Oleg V. Pekerman
- Bill Blanchard, P.E., PTOE
- 2022
- Susan Thomas, P.E., PMP
- 2021
- Arthur T. O’Connor, Ph.D., P.E.
- 2020
- Jennifer B. Strasser, PMP
- 2019
- Robert S. Jaffe, Ph.D., CSEP
- 2017
- Athena Hutchins, P.E., F.ASCE
- Christopher Jones
- 2016
- Joseph D. Tario
- 2015
- Isaac Takyi, Ph.D.
- 2014
- Matt Edelman
- 2013
- Frank Dolan, P.E., PTOE
ITS-NY Hall Of Fame
Innovative developments and applications of ITS have propelled the transportation industry forward, enhancing mobility and improving infrastructure management. These developments were the result of hard work and creative thinking by a few people who had the vision to see what technology could mean to the future of the surface transportation industry. These pioneers knew that new tools could be developed that would change forever the way their industry responded to challenges.
Nomination Criteria
The individual has championed ITS and significantly contributed to the improvement of ITS in the state of New York.
The individual has been dedicated to the industry through his/her numerous professional accomplishments.
The individual has been an employee of an ITS-NY Member organization at any time currently or historically.
The individual is generally well regarded and respected by his/her peers within the ITS marketplace.
The individual must be nominated and seconded by ITS-NY Members from two separate organizations.
Inductees
- 2025
- Jim Davis
- Steven Levine
- John Tipaldo, Ph.D., P.E.
- 2024
- Edward L. Mark
- Arthur T. O’Connor, Ph.D., P.E., ITS-NY Board Member, 14th ITS-NY President
- 2023
- Raymundo Martinez, P.E., ITS-NY Board Member
- William R. McShane, Ph.D., P.E., PT
- 2022
- John Bassett, P.E. ITS-NY Board Member Emeritus
- Professor Elena Prassas, Ph.D., ITS-NY Board Member Emeritus
- Jennifer B. Strasser, PMP, ITS-NY Board Member Emeritus, 13th ITS-NY President
- 2021
- Professor John C. (Giancarlo) Falcocchio, Ph.D., P.E.
- Robert G. Rausch, P.E.
- Todd B. Westhuis, P.E., ITS-NY Board Member Emeritus
- 2020
- Ernest G. Athanailos, P.E.
- Abiyu J. Berlie (ITS-NY Board Member Emeritus)
- Mohamad Talas, Ph.D., P.E., PTOE, ITS-NY Board Member
- 2019
- Rizwan Baig P.E., PTOE
- Dotty Drinkwater, ITS-NY Administrator Emeritus
- Jeffrey E. Randall, P.E., PTOE, ITS-NY Board Member Emeritus, 12th ITS-NY President
- Emilio Sosa, P.E., ITS-NY Board Member
- 2018
- Tom Batz
- Steven Galgano, P.E.
- Fred Lai, P.E.
- 2017
- Raman K. Patel, Ph.D., P.E.
- 2016
- Walter Dunn, Jr., P.E., ITS-NY Board Member
- 2015
- Robert Jaffe, Ph.D., CSEP, ITS-NY Board Member
- Jonathan McDade
- Isaac Takyi, Ph.D., ITS-NY Board Member, 11th ITS-NY President
- 2014
- Frank Dolan, P.E., PTOE, ITS-NY Board Member Emeritus
- Ed Roberts, P.E.
- 2013
- Henry Peyrebrune, ITS-NY Board Member Emeritus, 1st ITS-NY President
- Larry Yermack, ITS-NY Board Member Emeritus, 2nd ITS-NY President
- Andy Bata, ITS-NY Board Member Emeritus, 4th ITS-NY President
- Rick Zabinski, ITS-NY Board Member Emeritus, 8th ITS-NY President
- Matt Edelman, ITS-NY Board Member Emeritus
- Mike Schauer, P.E., PTOE, ITS-NY Board Member Emeritus
- John Shafer, ITS-NY Board Member Emeritus
- Tom Werner, ITS-NY Board Member Emeritus
Outstanding ITS Projects Awards
Evaluation criteria include the project’s/program’s utilization of ITS and its impact on a New York transportation issue. Projects which have been completed within the past 12 months, as well as those which are partially, but demonstrably deployed (i.e., well along in the process of a several-year development/implementation) will be considered.
Student Posters
In 2022, ITS-NY made the decision to invite student abstracts and posters from across New York State to promote greater student participation. These abstracts and posters are showcased at the ITS-NY Annual Meeting, during a dedicated poster session where awards for the “best” posters are presented.
Special awards for second, third, and fourth places are also given.
2025
Zerun Liu
“The Effects of Increased Electric Truck Weights on Road Infrastructure”
C2SMARTER Center/
New York University
2024
Ye Wang;
Austin Angulo
“Understanding Bicyclist Behavior and Perception of B2X Advanced Warning Messages”
State University of New York at Buffalo
Student Essay Contests (discontinued in 2017)
For many years, the Intelligent Transportation Society of New York (ITS-NY) established a “Best Student ITS Paper Competition”. This paper competition was held annually to identify and recognize outstanding technical contributions from individual students in the field of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). It was required that the submitted paper had as first author a student and to be an original paper. The competition consisted of the submission of a brief paper on any ITS topic. For example, the topic was about any Intelligent Transportation System, Services, or Programs in New York State, including ITS research, which could positively impact New York State.
The $500 award was given to one paper and consisted of a certificate and stipend offered by the University Transportation Research Center for qualified students. The winner was alerted prior to the ITS-NY annual meeting and was required to attend the ITS-NY Annual Meeting to present his/her paper as a poster. All travel expenses to attend and present the best paper was reimbursed by ITS-NY.
In 2022, ITS-NY decided to solicit student abstracts and posters throughout the state of New York. Abstracts and posters are presented at the ITS-NY annual meeting; either at an individual panel session or during a separate poster session.
2017
Bahman Moghimi
City College of New York
2016
Zhenhua Zhang
State University of New York at Buffalo
2015
Abhishek Sighal
City College of New York
2014
Lei Lin
State University of New York at Buffalo
2013
Akhan Almagambetov
Syracuse University
Special Awards
Outstanding Service and Support Award
- Robert Jaffe, Ph.D., CSEP. 2007 - 2025
- Isaac Takyi, Ph.D. 2003 - 2025
- Jennifer Bates, P.E. LEED AP, Env Sp. 2016 - 2025
- Ian M. St.Yves, P.E. 2018 - 2021
Presidential Appreciation Award
- Athena Hutchins, P.E., F. ASCE - 2025
- Judith Peter, P.E. - 2023
- Matthew Juckes - 2023
- Judith Peter, P.E. - 2022
- Emilio Sosa, P.E. - 2022
- Rebecca Gibson-Schott, P.E. - 2022
- Dr. Robyn Marquis - 2019
Distinguished Career Award
- Chuk-Bun Yuen, P.E.
- Arnold D. Rubenstein, P.E.
- Allison L. C. de Cerreño, Ph.D
Lifetime Achievement Award
- Dotty Drinkwater - 2019
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