Calendar of Events

Presentation Description

Description of Topic/Presentation:

Morteza (Mort) Fahrtash, Ph.D., PE, PMP® will deliver a presentation outlining what his experience over 30 years as a professor, engineer, and district traffic manager shows about project management. This event teaches timeless and broad reaching project management principles, highlighted with deep industry knowledge and experience gained from successful implementation of intelligent transportation projects.

You will learn:

1. People Management and Education: Project managers foster a high-performing team culture by developing talent through coaching, mentoring, and continuous learning opportunities.
2. Decision Making: Effective project leaders apply structured decision-making frameworks that balance data analysis with stakeholder input to select optimal courses of action under uncertainty.
3. Consensus Building: Project success is often achieved by engaging stakeholders in open dialogue, aligning diverse perspectives, and facilitating consensus to support shared objectives.

Speaker Bios

Morteza (Mort) Fahrtash, Ph.D., PE, PMP®

Mort is a former Caltrans employee who retired after 30 years of service. He was the District Traffic Manager (DTM) in District 7 covering both Los Angeles and Ventura counties. He was responsible for:  The LA Regional Transportation Management Center (LARTMC) Facility and its 24/7 operation; The Lane Closure System, Traffic Management Team, and Traffic Management Plan for all capital projects in District 7; The I-210 Connected Corridor through Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) concept by sharing real-time information between Caltrans, four local agencies, and two county agencies through a Decision Support System for faster and safer incident management.

Prior to joining District 7, Mort was the Chief of Traffic System Development, Ramp Metering and Vehicle Detection System in Orange County, District 12. Concurrently, he was the manager of the Transportation Management Center (TMC). He managed the planning, design, and construction of the state-of-the-art TMC building in Orange County.

During his time in the Division of Traffic Operations, Mort developed many innovative projects in the area of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and published articles in professional magazines. Mort was responsible for establishing the Traffic System Management and Operation (TSMO) requirements for D12 and initiated the System Engineering Management Plan and Concept of Operations for the North Orange County Triangle ICM projects.

Before joining Caltrans, Mort was a professor of Civil Engineering at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. While working at Caltrans, he was an Adjunct Professor at the University of California, Irvine and the California State Universities at Long Beach and Fullerton.

He is the recipient of:

• “Excellence in Transportation” Award for Major Freeway Widening in District 12;
• ASCE Project Achievement Award for the turn-key delivery of the State of the Art TMC Building, and;
• Orange County Engineering Council Merit Award 

Location

Back Bay Conference Center, 3415 Michelson Drive, Irvine, CA 92612  

FREE PARKING 

Dinner / Meal

Pizza, Fruit, and Coffee will be provided

Time

Program:

6:00 PM - Doors open at the venue
6:15 PM - Virtual session begins (for a waiting period while the venue gets settled)
6:30 PM - Speaker program starts
7:30 PM - Q&A begins
8:00 PM - Event ends

Cost

Registration Cutoff Date and Time: November 13, 2025 at 4:00 PM

PDUs:  1.5 - Power Skills