Canadian District's First Student Leadership Summit

On Sunday, June 3, the University of Alberta and University of Manitoba chapters co-hosted the first Canadian ITE District Student Leadership Summit (SLS) in Edmonton, Alberta. The event was a huge success with over 30 students learning and participating. Attendees were presented with a great opportunity to develop their professional skills, leadership qualities, and connect with transportation professionals.

ITE President Michael Sanderson shares his insights on leadership

The SLS consisted of a series of presentations, networking sessions, and a workshop which were all focused on areas of leadership, teamwork, motivation, and other skills essential for young professionals preparing to build their professional careers. The session presentations included self-branding; motivation and self-discipline; time and energy management; leadership insights from ITE International President, Michael Sanderson; career opportunities in transportation; and ethics in engineering. The summit ran for a day and a half and included three networking opportunities including a welcome reception on Saturday, June 2, a chance to meet the fellow attendees with networking activities at breaks on Sunday, and most importantly, a roundtable session where students connected with five ITE/CITE Executive members. The roundtable session consisted of five groups of students with a rotating ITE/CITE Executive to provide students with an opportunity to gain knowledge on working in the field and receive insight on employable skills when entering the workforce. Many of the students praised the opportunity to not only meet with Bruce Belmore, Gene Chartier, Julia Salvini, Michael Sanderson, and Edward Soldo, but to also learn from their years of experience in the workforce and within the ITE community. Lastly, the event concluded with an interactive workshop on team building and communication.

Barbara May's "Stumbling Blocks" team building activity

The summit was extremely successful and productive for those who attended. Students gained new skill sets in communication, leadership, teamwork, and networking and were able to show those abilities to professional executives in the ITE community. It was also a chance to interact with students from across Canada and to strengthen those relationships during the following CITE Conference. CITE hopes to have students organize another event in years to come so keep an eye on your inbox! The organizing committee would like to thank all the attendees for their participation; the sponsors for their financial support; the speakers for volunteering their time, insight, and knowledge; and Gene Chartier for approaching the Chapters with the idea and guidance throughout the planning process.

Over thirty students from across Canada participated