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Gordon Paesani Scholarship Program
Are you a current IL, IN, KY or OH collegiate sophomore, junior, senior, or graduate student planning to enter the transportation field with a primary focus of interest in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)? If so, the Gordon Paesani Scholarship offered by ITS Midwest could be yours!
2025 Gordon Paesani recipients honored at ITSMW25 Conference & Expo.
From left to right: Nick Hegemier (ITS Midwest President), Aaron Moore (Scholarship Sponsor, ISS), Murray Egan (Scholarship Sponsor, ISS), Amin Golkarfard (2025 Scholarship recipient), Danesh Hosseinpanahi (2025 Scholarship recipient), Sara Senger (Scholarship Program Chair). Not in picture: Habbit Maharjan (2025 Scholarship recipient). Read related News Release
Gordon Paesani, ITS Pioneer and Mentor
Starting in 2019, ITS Midwest has established the Gordon Paesani ITS Midwest Scholarship to honor the memory of Gordon Paesani.
Gordon Paesani was not only a great mentor to many young engineers during his contribution to our industry, but he was also a committed innovator in ITS, including a variety of concepts he implemented long before the term ‘ITS’ was coined. He was a pioneer in freeway operations with focus on Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS) and their components including incident response plans and adaptive ramp metering algorithms.
Download the scholarship announcement and learn about Gordon’s extensive career and accomplishments:
For more information on scope, eligibility, application deadline, requirements and how to apply for the scholarship, see below.
About the Scholarship
ITS Midwest is pleased to award this $1,500 scholarship to applicants who are pursuing higher education in the use of Intelligent Transportation Systems to improve safety and efficiency. The scholarship criteria look for excellence in the classroom, passion for innovation, and enthusiasm for the transportation industry.
The scholarship is open to collegiate sophomores, juniors, seniors, and graduate students planning to enter the transportation field with a primary focus of interest in ITS. Applicants are to be presently attending colleges and universities in the four-state coverage area of ITS Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio).
Submission Deadline
The call for applications for the 2026 Scholarship is now OPEN:
submit your application by May 15, 2026.
Eligibility
- The scholarship is open to those students who are enrolled in their sophomore, junior, senior, or graduate year for 2025-2026 academic calendar. Award is open to students who have completed his or her sophomore year.
- The student shall be attending a college or university in one of the four member states.
- The student major shall align with the ITS industry, including a variety of engineering and technology fields of study. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Connected Vehicles
- Automated Vehicles
- Systems Engineering
- Unmanned Aircraft Systems
- ITS Data Analysis and Patterns
- ITS Policy
- Smart Traffic
- Sensors
Basis of selection
- Industry interest and alignment with ITS Midwest goals
- Industry related work such as university research, DOT projects, and private sector work
- Professor and/or Professional References (limit 3)
- Quality of Short Essay (3 pgs. maximum)
- Collegiate Performance
- Winner must agree to provide testimonial that includes how funds were used
Essay Requirements
The essay should describe and convey the following:
- Student goals and objectives as they pertain to use and application of transportation technologies
- Description of experience and/or activities that demonstrate relevance to ITS
- Convey the student's interest in the transportation technology industry
Selection committee
The ITS Midwest Awards Committee will review all submitted applications and select a winner. The scholarship recipient will be notified and invited to participate in the ITS Midwest Conference & Expo.
Instructions and Guidelines for scholarship Applications
- Download the Scholarship Information and read it to learn more about Gordon Paesani's achievements.
- Download the 2026 Scholarship Application Form and complete it.
- Get up to three (3) professor and / or professional references (one page letter or email per reference).
- Prepare a short essay (up to 3 pages).
- Submit your application (= completed form + Professor / Professional References + Short essay) in PDF format to:
Sara Senger PE, PTOE | Director of Traffic Services, TEC Engineering, Inc.
Scholarships, ITS Midwest
[email protected] | Connect with Sara on LinkedIn
Call for Scholarship Sponsors
We are reaching out to various industries, such as automotive, data, and logistics companies, to inform them of our organization and our expanded student scholarship sponsorship opportunities. If you know of a company that would be a good fit for this opportunity, please reach out to the Program & Policies Committee to provide that company contact information or direct that company to our scholarship sponsor page to learn more.
Gordon Paesani Scholarship Recipients 2019-25
Note: EXPERIENCE = Scholarship recipient's experience at the time of her/his scholarship application
Testimonials from previous Scholarship recipients
2025 Read related News Release
- Amin Golkarfard, Transportation Engineering, University of Louisville
EXPERIENCE:
+ Collaborating with KYTC
+ Ph.D. Student in Transportation Engineering
+ Focus: Emerging technologies, infrastructure sensing, and data-driven analysis - Danesh Hosseinpanahi, Civil Engineering, University of Illinois Chicago
EXPERIENCE:
+ Undergraduate and graduate research experience
+ Ph.D. Student in Civil Engineering
+ Focus: Connected Vehicle technologies, routing and modelling based research - Habbit Maharjan, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Ohio University
EXPERIENCE:
+ Research on using ITS for work zone safety
+ Pursuing Masters Degree
+ Focus: Microsimulation and statistical modeling experience
2024
- Gregory Brinster, Civil Engineering Student, Purdue University
EXPERIENCE:
+ Over 1000 hrs of in-field experience through internships, research and even field trips
+ Pursuing Master in Transportation Engineering at Purdue
+ Focus: Roads Safety
2023
- Alexa Kessler, Civil Engineering Student, Trine University, IN
EXPERIENCE:
+ Traffic and roadway summer intern at DGL Consulting Engineers
+ Traffic intern at Lucas County Engineer's Office - Sam Lambert, Civil Engineering Student, University of Kentucky, KY
EXPERIENCE:
+ Transportation road design and surveying intern at Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
+ Geotech at HDR, Inc.
+ Overhead Transmission lines at Burns & McDonell
2022
- Alex Meyers, Civil Engineering Student, University of Kentucky
EXPERIENCE:
+ Undergraduate research with the usRAP project at the University of Kentucky
+ Internships with HW Lochner and WSP USA
2021
- Stevan Citovic, Civil Engineering Student, Northern Ohio University
EXPERIENCE:
+ Ohio Department of Transportation (3 summers)
+ Research Project at ONU to determine how COVID-19 pandemic impacted vehicular travel on Ohio’s highway system - Hannah Murray, Civil & Environmental Engineering Student, Trine University
EXPERIENCE:
+ Indiana Department of Transportation, Traffic Department
+ Passion for working on projects that promote and implement traffic safety
2020
- Ryan Hess, Civil Engineering Student, The Ohio State University
EXPERIENCE:
+ Port Authority of Allegheny County - Bus Rapid Transit
+ Ross Township Park-N-Ride
+ PennDOT - Automated Work Zone Speed Enforcement Program (AWZSE)
+ ODOT bridge inspection reports - Harsh Patel, Civil Engineering Student, University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
EXPERIENCE:
+ Explored the impacts of COVID-19 on Mobility using CityMapper
+ Investigating opportunities for ITS, CAV, transit, and advanced pricing models to better optimize mobility
2019
- Natasha Breslieva, Civil Engineering Student, University of Illinois at Chicago
EXPERIENCE:
+ Role of ITS innovations to support mobility