Welcome, 2023 Interns!

Ana Silva: Portland Office

Ana is a senior at Virginia Tech, studying civil engineering. Last summer, Ana interned at the traffic department at RK&K in Baltimore and got an up-close look at how transportation projects are carried out. She is excited to continue learning about transportation and consulting through her internship with Kittelson. Ana’s fun fact is that she is a cheese lover. She finds Brie, Camembert and Smoked Gouda to be the perfect pairing with engineering and planning projects.

Ashley Hightower: Baltimore Office

Ashley is getting her combined bachelor’s/master’s degrees in civil engineering at the University of Tennessee. With a particular interest in public transit, Ashley is excited to learn about the world of consulting and how consultants can partner with clients to create positive change. In her free time, Ashley loves roller-skating and playing frisbee.

Casey Walike: Harrisburg Office

Casey is a junior at Cornell University, studying civil engineering. Casey is pursuing a career in transportation with an eye toward the future, and hopes to learn about innovative, forward-thinking transportation solutions through this internship. Casey enjoys training for and competing in Olympic distance triathlons.

Cesar De Leon: Portland Office

Cesar studies civil engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. After moving from Chicago to San Antonio as a kid, Cesar quickly realized how differences in physical infrastructure affect the way communities, towns, and whole cities move. He is committed to pursuing transportation equity through both policy and infrastructure. And we don’t question his commitment, because he once did a day trip all the way from Austin to NYC just to see a Harry Styles Halloween concert!

Claude Springer: Boise Office

Claude studies civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Claude’s interest in transportation began with his father, who has traveled across the country countless times through his truck driving career. Still exploring career paths within the world of civil engineering, Claude hopes this internship will provide him with a greater understanding of how he wants to focus his work in the future. Claude spent spring break of this year on a mission trip to Ecuador.

Emily Branch: Tampa Office

Emily Branch is majoring in both urban and environmental planning and computer science at the University of Virginia. She’s interested in transportation planning as a potential way to combine her two degrees. Emily says that ever since working as an extern for the National Parks Service, she has found herself thinking critically about the roads and sidewalks she uses, and wants to know more about how design decisions are made. Fun fact: Emily plays the viola.

Jack Munzel: Philadelphia Office

Jack is a civil engineering student at the University of Notre Dame who is passionate about the intersection of transportation, sustainability, and social justice. He is excited to hone his engineering skills in an environment that recognizes the societal impact of engineering decisions. “I’m interested in politics, so after the 2020 census I drew a proportional map for the congressional districts of Ohio (my home state) and submitted it to the redistricting commission,” Jack says.

Jade Ma: Boston Office

Jade grew up in Arkansas where she often rode a dirt bike to school. Sadly, she had to give up the bike commute in middle school because it would have involved crossing a major highway, but her interest in active transportation has stuck with her ever since. Jade attends Colby College in Maine, and when no single course of study there captured her interests, she created her own independent major of architecture/urban studies. Jade looks forward to using this internship to explore if transportation planning will be part of her future career.

Jake Allison: Portland Office

Jake is graduating this month with a civil engineering degree from Texas A&M University and will begin pursuing his PhD this fall. Jake grew up having conversations with his grandfather about how traffic systems could be better, and the interest has stuck with him ever since. Prior to his Kittelson internship, Jake interned with Freese and Nichols which allowed him to see how transportation work has a direct impact on people’s lives. Fun fact: Jake went to the USATF Junior Olympics a few times in the discus throw and javelin throw, with his best placement being #1 from Texas and #12 in the United States in the discus throw.

Hannah Kalantari: Sacramento Office

Hannah is a PhD student in the Metropolitan Planning, Policy, and Design program at the University of Utah. Hannah has aspirations to become a “plangineer,” a transportation planner experienced in engineering. And we know she has the strategic thinking to be successful in this role, because as a teenager, Hannah used to be a professional chess player!

Lekshmy Hirandas: Charlotte Office

Lekshmy studies city planning at the University of California, Berkeley. Lekshmy describes herself as an ever-curious and avid listener who loves exploring places on foot. She’s interested in working on active transportation policies using social equity frameworks and community participation. Through her internship, she’s excited to learn how research drives practice to center mobility justice in transportation projects.

Milad Tahmasebi: Washington, DC Office

Milad started his career working at a highway design company on a wide array of projects, from urban and rural highways to intersection and interchange design. Milad is now obtaining his PhD from Northeastern University. Milad says he has always been interested in everything that moves, making a career as a transportation engineer a perfect match for his interests from an early age.

Mohammed Umair Khan: Wilmington Office

Mohammed Umair Khan is pursuing his masters in Transportation Engineering from Texas A&M University. Originally from Aligarh, India, Mohammad moved to the US for his graduate studies and serves as the President of TAMUite, a student organization that won the best ITE student chapter award in Texas. He’s an avid traveler, having visited 11 US states. A self-taught cook, he enjoys exploring new cuisines. When not working, he’s likely watching soccer highlights.

Patrick Brown: Boston Office

Patrick is majoring in civil engineering and minoring in urban planning at the University of Virginia. Patrick’s interest in transportation engineering has blossomed since starting college. “Since getting to college and seeing how many other ways there are to get around rather than using a car, from walking, bikes and other micro-mobility devices, or transit, I’ve been captivated by how to make multimodal transportation more widespread,” says Patrick. Patrick’s fun fact is that he learned an amazing baked asparagus recipe recently and now asparagus is his favorite vegetable.

Ryan Ford: Orlando Office

Ryan is obtaining his master’s degree in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His interest in transportation planning is rooted in a fascination with how design thinking, multi-modal transit and equitable access intersect to serve urban communities. When he says multimodal, he means it-Ryan’s summer job in college was driving a water taxi!

Richie Ng: Oakland Office

Richie studies civil engineering at Tufts University. Richie’s interest in transportation is driven by her experiences growing up in Myanmar, where she felt the limitations of the physical infrastructure falling behind the country’s growth and economic development. She’s looking for an internship experience that will help her translate her motivation into empathy that drives her work as a transportation engineer. Richie enjoys gardening, and used to grow okras and tomatoes for her family back home.

Sophie Zenkin: Portland Office

Sophie is a freshman at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She’s excited to have her first internship experience and learn more about innovation and sustainability within the world of transportation. She is also here to shatter the stereotype that engineers can’t write creatively, because she once won a poetry contest.

Suprapti Gautam: San Diego Office

Suprapti is getting her master’s degree in transportation engineering from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Suprapti’s passion for transportation engineering was ignited during her undergraduate studies when she worked on a project involving the construction of a physical model of an underpass, as an alternative design to alleviate traffic congestion at a T-junction in the Kathmandu Valley. Her goal is to contribute to the development of faster, more efficient, and safer transportation systems. Suprapti is a massive K-pop lover and enjoys dancing and singing.

Vanessa De La Rosa: Bend Office

Vanessa began her transportation planning career by trade, working as a transportation planner and community planning liaison for public agencies throughout Los Angeles. After a devastating rainfall event in her home country of Peru that wiped out non-compliant roads and bridges, Vanessa decided to return to school to add engineering to her skillset, obtaining her master’s degree in civil engineering with a focus in transportation from the University of California, Davis. She looks forward to developing design skills to complement her planning experience. Fun fact: Vanessa had a pet monkey as a child.

Vanessa Le: Orlando

Vanessa is a junior at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, studying city and regional planning. Changes to regional transportation in her home town of Fremont, CA sparked Vanessa’s interest in transportation and how to optimize systems. Vanessa hopes to pursue a career where she can impact the built form and people around her through improved transportation options. Fun fact: Vanessa bowls better with her nondominant left hand than her right hand.

Intern class of 2023, welcome to the team! We can’t wait to see what you’ll accomplish this summer. For more information about our program, visit our Internships page.