New Master of Engineering in Railway Engineering Degree

September 2017: The Engineering Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is offering a new Master of Engineering in Railway Engineering program. This non-thesis master's degree can be earned in 3 semesters and includes an international exchange semester with KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. This degree helps address growth in the rail industry which has led to a substantial demand for a new generation of professionals educated in the principles of railway engineering. It provides a broad interdisciplinary education in railway engineering for a variety of professional career-track students. For more program details, click here.

RailTEC Attending IHHA

August 2017: Two RailTEC faculty and four students are travelling to attend the 11th International Heavy Haul Association (IHHA) Conference in Cape Town South Africa on September 2 – 6, 2017. RailTEC has a total of 11 faculty and student papers and presentations at the conference. To see our IHHA conference booklet, click here. The IHHA conference includes presentations of technical papers in research and development areas such as Rolling Stock and Railway Infrastructure and Operations, and aims to address recent the market downturn characterized by low commodity prices, low GDP growth rates, and slowdown in demand for freight bulk commodities such as coal and iron ore.

RailTEC Short Course

RailTEC Short Course participants touring the Rail and Innovation Laboratory (RAIL).

August 2017: Last week RailTEC’s Short Course focusing on Track Systems and Infrastructure Components; Locomotives, Rolling Stock and Mechanical Components; Rail Project Design and Construction was held on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s campus on August 7 – 11, 2017. There were 18 participants in the class. The students eengaged in interactive lectures, relevant case studies and small group discussions to learn about the practical aspect and the science behind railway engineering and transportation concepts. All participants received Professional Development Hours (PDH) and a Certificate of Completion. If you missed the class this year, check back next year for our schedule.

NURail Center Site Visit

LaChaundra Graham (foreground) poses for a selfie with NURail Director Dr. Chris Barkan (right) and other members of the research team.

July 2017: LaChaundra Graham, the NURail Center Grant Manager from the USDOT Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research & Technology, visit the Illinois campus on Tuesday, July 25, 2017 for a site visit. During the full day of meetings Ms. Graham listened to presentations on NURail’s research, technology transfer, and education and workforce development projects as well as toured the Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory and the Research and Innovation Laboratory (RAIL). Presentations were given by both Illinois students and researchers, as well as NURail partners from Michigan Technological University, the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Kentucky. By visiting the University Transportation Centers (UTC) such as NURail, the UTC program office staff can evaluate the current management of UTC’s as well as the UTC’s ability to meet its goals and to adhere to grant requirements.

p-REES Symposium Support

Tyler Dick, Senior Research Engineer and Director of Education, presenting one of his p-REES modules.

July 2017: APTA hosted its second biennial Passenger Railway Engineering Education Symposium (p-REES), July 10-12, 2017, in Los Angeles, California at the Los Angeles Trade Technical College. P-REES’ goal is to encourage engineering faculty to add rail and engineering content to their current courses and curricula. RailTEC sent three faculty members to teach different modules at the symposium. Chris Barkan, Tyler Dick and Conrad Ruppert, Jr. provided practical hands-on engineering information and materials to the attendees.