Upcoming Events
1st Hay Seminar Announced
The first Hay Seminar of the fall 2016 semester will be on October 14. The guest speaker will be Semih Kalay, Senior Vice President of Technology at the Transportation Technology Center, Inc. in Colorado Springs. Click here for the Hay Seminar page.
18th Railroad Environmental Conference
The dates for RREC 2016 are November 1-2, 2016. We hope to see you there!
In the News
Scholarship Winner
Sept 2016: Congratulations to Chen-Yu Lin, the winner of a 2016 Frank J. Richter Scholarship. This award is given annually by the American Association of Railroad Superintendents (AARS). The winners are evaluated on past transcripts, activities and honors, academic contributions (publications) and letters of recommendation. RailTEC has had five other students receive this scholarship.
Trespassing: A RR Safety Issue
Sept 2016: In her September 18 article Mary Wisniewski, the transportation reporter and Getting Around columnist for the Chicago Tribune, quoted Chris Barkan, Professor and Executive Director of RailTEC. The article discusses how trespassing has become the top railroad safety issue and how Pokémon GO is the latest hazard. As part of their safety research, Dr. Barkan challenged his students to come up with ideas to include in the Pokémon app that would discourage trespassing and encourage safe behavior at grade crossings. The article mentions that one of the suggestions by the students was that Pokémon GO players should lose a cartoon “buddy” if they trespass near tracks. Click here to read the article.
Barkan Receives Educator Award
Sep 2016: Chris Barkan, Professor and Executive Director of RailTEC, received the Michael S DeLarco Educator Award given by the DuPage Railroad Safety Council (DRSC). The award was presented at DRSC’s “Prevent Tragedy on the Tracks” conference in Oak Brook, IL on September 15, 2016 where Dr. Barkan was an invited speaker. This honor was given for his outstanding efforts to help promote railroad safety and was named after Michael S. DeLarco who lost his life in a train accident. DRSC is a nonprofit organization made up of railroad professionals, government officials, law enforcement, engineers, educators and private citizens who are dedicated to improving railway safety. Pictured above are UIUC student Lijun Zhang; Chris Barkan; Lanny Wilson, DRSC Chairman; and Weixi Li, UIUC student. Also attending the event was UIUC student Siyao Luan.
2016 AREMA Conference
Sept 2016: Approximately 50 students from NURail partner universities pose with (front row, center) Mike Franke (Amtrak), Mary Hay (daughter of William W. Hay) and Chris Barkan (Executive Director of RailTEC) on August 29, 2016 in Orlando, FL at the AREMA conference. In addition to attending technical sessions and giving poster presentations, many students worked the NURail booth in the exhibition hall. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s (NURail’s lead university) two teams scored first and second in the AREMA “Student Quiz Bowl” competition. The match consisted of four rounds of questions related to railroad engineering, operations, history and trivia.
Fostering Future Railroaders
Aug 2016: In the August 2016 issue of Railway Track & Structures (RT&S), AREMA President Brian A. Lindamood discusses in his monthly column the importance of viewing employees as a company asset and making the investment of time to foster the development of the generation of future railroaders. Brian also mentions attending The Railway Academic Conference (TRAC), a combination of the Railway Engineering Education Symposium (REES) and the NURail Annual Meeting, held on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus in July. Click here to read the article.
About Us
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Who we are:University Of Illinois Rail Transportation and Engineering Center
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For over a century the University of Illinois has been a leader in railway engineering research and education. Beginning with Talbot's fundamental work on railroad track design, and Schmidt & Tuthill's work on train energy and power requirements, through Hay's textbook on railroad engineering, The U of I has a distinguished record of accomplishment and remains highly respected by today's railroad engineering community.
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What we do:
EducationInspire and sustain students and faculty interest in rail engineering and transport. Teach courses and offer a curriculum in rail engineering and transportation. Place Graduates in rewarding positions in rail engineering, transportation planning, and operations. Understand the critical educational issues in rail transportation, and develop practical, effective solutions.
ResearchUnderstand the critical research issues in rail transportation, and develop practical, effective solutions. Conduct practical and theoretical research in critically important current topics in rail engineering and transportation. Communicate the results of this research to the rail transportation community.
ServiceProvide knowledge and expertise to university, industry, government, and public on rail transportation and engineering topics.
Who We Are
- University Of Illinois Rail Transportation and Engineering Center
For over a century the University of Illinois has been a leader in railway engineering research and education. Beginning with Talbot's fundamental work on railroad track design, and Schmidt & Tuthill's work on train energy and power requirements, through Hay's textbook on railroad engineering, The U of I has a distinguished record of accomplishment and remains highly respected by today's railroad engineering community.
- Headquartered within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
