Dr. Wayne Sarasua, P.E., is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at Clemson University in South Carolina.
DKS Associates hired Wayne in the mid-1980s, fresh out of the University of California-Berkeley. He was as high energy then as he is today. For some folks it was scary to have Wayne, myself and Peter Coffey working together in one office.
If you’re not excited before you engage with Wayne, you soon will be. He’s passionate about transportation and geomatics (the natural convergence of big data with transportation). He teaches courses in transportation operations, travel demand, survey and geomatics, and has ushered numerous Masters and PhDs into transportation.
As a fellow of ITE, he’s been a staunch supporter of students, routinely bringing a large contingent of young professionals to TRB where they’re able to network with their transportation peers each year. His unfailing support of student leaders was never more evident than last year when the Clemson transportation students hosted a Student Leadership Summit, a student organized conference focusing on their professional needs.
Wayne has published countless journal publications on traffic monitoring, GIS, traffic safety and machine vision. There are so many transportation professionals who began their journey being exposed to Wayne’s passion for transportation. Being from a school (Oregon State) that shares the color, orange, he’s the only person I know that wears more orange than I do. He never stopped being young at heart, has raised a great family, and is a super community supporter. His wife Sara is equally accomplished as an Assistant Professor in Healthcare genetics and she is most able to keep up with Wayne. Amazingly, I sang at Sara and Wayne’s wedding! (no one has asked since…) When you come to New Orleans you can ask him about his kids’ activities, marching band, scouts, and great road trips.