December 2016: Mr. Randy Blankenhorn, Secretary of Transportation for the State of Illinois, was the guest speaker for the UIUC Student Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers on Thursday, December 1, 2016. In addition to speaking to the students, Mr. Blankenhorn took the time to visit RailTEC’s Research and Innovation Laboratory (RAIL). Riley Edwards, RailTEC Research Scientist and Senior Lecturer, said, “We were excited and honored to have Secretary Blankenhorn visit RAIL. We had a very productive conversation, and he seemed very interested in the types of research questions that we are answering at RAIL. As a part of our tour, we also discussed rail-related challenges and research needs going forward specific to the state of Illinois.”