From left to right: Nitesh Shah, Yi Wen, Wesley Darling, and Zachary Jerome.
The annual Tennessee Section Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Traffic Bowl was hosted at Tennessee State University in Nashville on February 27. Three teams competed for the title this year: UT, the University of Memphis, and TSU.
The UT students made a comeback in the final round to beat University of Memphis, making this win the 6th title for UT since 2011. The competition follows the style of the popular television show, Jeopardy! In the first and second round, students are asked 25 questions worth 100 to 500 points each among 5 different categories. During the third and final round, teams answer just one question and can bet up to all the points they have accumulated.
UT had 4,200 points entering the final round, with University of Memphis in the lead with 5,400. “We bet all of our points and answered the question correctly for a score of 8,400,” said team member Yi Wen. “University of Memphis did not answer the question correctly and lost the points they bet on.”
UT’s ITE chapter president Ramin Arvin said, “Institute of Transportation Engineers is an organization that provides a community of transportation experts and researchers to students to help shape their professional future.”
The four team members Nitesh Shah, Yi Wen, Wesley Darling, and Zachary Jerome have advanced and will now represent their section and UT in the southern district ITE Traffic Bowl competition in Arlington, Virginia, this March.