Congratulations to RailTEC faculty Chris Barkan and Riley Edwards for making the Fall 2021 “List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students”. These lists are compiled by the University on a semester basis and reflect student ratings of instruction. Click here to see a complete listing of Illinois faculty who earned this distinction.
During the Fall Chris taught CEE 595 HAL – High-Efficiency Freight Rail and Riley taught CEE 409 – Railroad Track Engineering. More information on these classes can be found below.
CEE 409 – Railroad Track Engineering
Railroad track is the backbone of a railway network and a key element of the vehicle-track system. Its primary functions are to support and distribute train loads, guide rail vehicles and facilitate drainage. The safe and efficient movement of trains requires that track is properly designed, constructed, inspected and maintained. The objectives of this course were to provide the student with a fundamental understanding of basic railroad track engineering principles, concepts, practices and technologies. The course also included the development of a comprehensive track design project in a team setting. Finally, a field trip was planned to observe railroad track and engage in “hands-on” track construction and maintenance activities. This class is typically offered in the fall semester.
CEE 595 HAL – High-Efficiency Freight Rail
This graduate seminar featured a series of visiting speakers with expertise and direct experience with properly managing the changes the railroads face as they continuously evolve to take advantage of the economies of scale made by possible by their inherent capacity to move larger, heavier materials in greater quantities through use of larger, higher capacity freight cars, and longer trains. Beyond the technical content, this graduate seminar emphasized the critical role of engineers as creative problem solvers.