Faculty Advisor

Dr. Anurag Pande

Associate Professor
Cal Poly Civil & Environmental Engineering

Anurag Pande - Civil and Environmental Engineering
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Dr. Anurag Pande is the Student Chapter Faculty Advisor and an Associate Professor in the Cal Poly Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His teaching and research interests include traffic safety, traffic simulation, and statistical analysis of transportation data. He is the editor of the upcoming edition of the Traffic Engineering Handbook published by ITE.

Go-to Starbucks drink: Large coffee. I guess they call it Venti. Nothing fancy.

Most obscure mode of transportation you have used: Camel cart. I used to ride it as a kid sometimes with my mother when she had to take us to her school in Rural parts of North-West India.

If a movie were made about your life, who would play you? Why?: Amitabh Bachhan. No particular reason but he is my favorite Indian movie star.
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Why do you love transportation? I keep finding new reasons to love it. As of right now it's the Cal Poly ITE student chapter. And I am not just saying that. ​

faculty advisor
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dr. tara goddard

Assistant Professor
Cal Poly Civil & Environmental Engineering

Tara Goddard - Civil and Environmental Engineering

Tara Goddard is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Previously, she was an Associate Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University. She has a PhD in Urban Studies from Portland State University, a MS in Civil Engineering from UC Davis, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Santa Barbara. Dr. Goddard is originally from rural northeastern California. Her research focuses on safe roadway design and reducing traffic deaths and injuries, particularly how the interactions of transportation culture, behavior, and infrastructure affect pedestrians, bicyclists, and other vulnerable road users. Dr. Goddard has on-going research related to wildfire evacuation, the rapid influx of technology in transportation, and other issues of engineering and planning in the current era of climate change. When she isn't at work, Tara is usually on a trail, a beach, or on the water.
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Go-to Starbucks drink: Grande oatmilk latte. Boring but dependable, which coincidentally was my dating profile tagline back in the day.

Most obscure mode of transportation you have used: Probably the Drachenfelsbahn, Germany's oldest cogwheel railroad train. I was lucky to teach study abroad in Bonn for two summers, and the train takes people from the tiny town of Königswinter, on the Rhine River, up to the Drachenburg castle. It is in Siebengebirge, a huge nature preserve. I would take the train up and run the trails down - much easier than running up, and more fun for a transportation nerd!

If a movie were made about your life, who would play you? Why?:  Ooh, tough one! Maybe Molly Ringwald's daughter. When I was a teenager, people said I reminded them of Molly Ringwald, so maybe her daughter looks a bit like I did, if you squint. I just realized most of our ITE members will have no idea who Molly Ringwald is.

Why do you love transportation?: Cheesy but sincere answer: Because it affects EVERYONE'S lives, and so making transportation safer, more inclusive, convenient, and environmentally-friendly can make many people's lives better. Plus, it is such a broad and varied field, there is something for everyone. 

Faculty Mentor

Prof. Paul Valadao

Lecturer
Cal Poly Civil & Environmental Engineering

Paul Valadao - Civil and Environmental Engineering

In 1997, Prof. Valadao launched his civil engineering career as a project engineer with Granite Construction Company. After three years of field engineering heavy civil construction projects, he shifted his attention to geometric design and began working for Caltrans District 5 in 2000. In early 2003, Prof. Valadao began teaching transportation courses at Cal Poly, SLO., namely CE 222, 322, and 422. Since 2008, Prof. Valadao's primary role with the Department is Project Coordinator for CE Senior Design courses (CE 466, 467). Mr. Valadao holds extensive experience and knowledge of the project development process, policies and procedures of various agencies, design standards, capability of civil engineering computer software, roles and responsibilities of various project development team members, and timely involvement of relevant stakeholders. Prof. Valadao earned his BS in Civil Engineering from Cal Poly, SLO in 1999 and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the states of California (since 2002) and Texas (since 2005).
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Go-to Starbucks drink: Tall coffee (black) with a shot of esspresso (i.e. "red-eye")

Most obscure mode of transportation you have used: TurboJet ferry between Hong Kong and Macau

If a movie were made about your life, who would play you? Why?: Paul Rudd, for the ability to funny and light-hearted most of the time, but serious when need be.

Why do you love transportation?: The profession is very collaborative where I have the opportunity and privilege to work with individuals from a wide array of professions, both inside and outside of engineering.