Dr. Xiang Liu, assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering program at Rutgers University and Director of the Rutgers Rail Program, was named by Progressive Railroading magazine as a recipient of their “Rising Stars” award. This award recognizes people under the age of 40 who are making a positive difference in the North American railroad industry. Liu is the fourth RailTEC alumni to receive this award since its inception six years ago. Other RailTEC winners were: Kevin Day (2014), Riley Edwards (2015) and Rapik Saat (2016). Liu was one of 20 individuals chosen out of more than 150 nominations. He received both an M.S. and Ph.D. in civil engineering with a focus on rail engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This year’s honorees were chosen based on their contributions to the railroad industry, career achievements, demonstrated leadership, professional association activity or community involvement. All the recipients were honored on Sunday, 22 July 2018 in Chicago.