Author: LB Frye

Dr. Christopher P.L. Barkan, Professor, George Krambles Director of RailTEC and Director of the National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE), was recently named the recipient of the 2026 Worth Award for Lifetime Achievement.  The award, presented at the 31st Annual Wheel/Rail Interaction (WRI) Heavy Haul Conference in Dallas, TX on 22-24 April 2026, is named for Art Worth, the former Manager of Standards and Senior Manager of Advanced Technology at Canadian National. The Worth Award is given to someone who has made a lasting impact on operations, practices, and/or safety in the railway industry over their career and has shared their experience and knowledge with the industry.

Wheel Rail Seminars, which established the Worth Award, presented this honor to Chris and recognized his lasting impact of bridging the gap between academia and the private sector through applied research that addresses real-world railroad challenges with vision and practical timing. As a dedicated mentor, Chris oversees graduate research with an emphasis on professional standards, ensuring a new generation of engineers is prepared to advance the industry through a comprehensive systems-based approach.

The 104th Engineering Open House (EOH) at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign was held on 10-11 April 2026. This is the nation’s largest student-run STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fair with 210 exhibits, 19 special events, and 15 engineering startups, most of which were designed and built entirely by current students. The theme, “Forging the Future”, highlighted the central role that the Grainger College of Engineering’s students hold in creating and shaping the technologies that define tomorrow. The EOH Central Committee was composed of 29 student leaders who spent nearly a full year transforming ideas into reality. Click here for the 2026 EOH visitor’s guide.

Each year this event draws thousands of students, families, teachers, and science-lovers to campus to partake in a truly unique experience celebrating all types of engineering. On Saturday, RailTEC hosted a group of 37 middle and high school students and their chaperones from Hanson Professional Services in Springfield, IL. This tradition originally started in 2014 and RailTEC is honored to continue it. Visitors that stopped by the Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory during EOH had the opportunity to view four different rail exhibits.

RailTEC is proud to announce that Marcus Dersch, Ph.D., P.E., Senior Principal Research Engineer and Co-Director of Research, National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE), has recently been honored for his contributions to the rail industry.  The April 2026 issue of Railway Track & Structures (RT&S) magazine recognized 13 engineers who have made an impact in their respective fields or within their company in their annual Engineers Under 40 feature.  Click here to read the article.

Those nominated for this honor work in the United States, Mexico, or Canada, are under the age of 40 as of January 1, 2026, and represent excellence in the railroad engineering field. RT&S editors assessed each nomination and selected those based on the following criteria: industry experience and education, leadership skills, and industry contributions. Candidates can be from any area of the railroad industry, including freight/passenger railroads, consultants, contractors, or suppliers.

The March 2026 issue of Railway Track & Structures (RT&S) magazine features an interesting article on railway engineering education and specifically highlights the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the history of Dr. William W. Hay, the RailTEC program and the National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE). The article also contains a sidebar spotlighting Dr. Christopher P.L. Barkan, RailTEC’s George Krambles Director and Illinois professor. Click here to read the article.

Due to continued interest, the deadline for submitting abstracts for both the Railroad Environmental Conference (RREC) and the Sustainability & Resiliency (S&R) Day has been extended. All abstracts received by Monday, 23 March will be reviewed by the Planning Committee for consideration for presentation at the 2026 RREC and/or S&R Day.

S&R Day was recently featured in the March 2026 issue of Railway Track & Structures (RT&S) magazine. In an article written by Peter Masson, Director, TRC Companies and Chair of AREMA Committee 13 – Environmental, he praised S&R Day speakers for sharing their valuable technical insights, the exchange of ideas among attendees and calls to action from industry leaders. Click here to read the article.

S&R Day will be held on 27 October 2026 once again in conjunction with RREC and is hosted by both the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) and Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC). S&R Day focuses on how sustainability and resiliency concepts and best practices can be applied to a broad range of engineering design, maintenance, operations, capital projects, construction, sustainable materials, organizational change activities, etc.

RREC will be hosted by RailTEC at the iHotel and Illinois Conference Center in Champaign, IL on 28-29 October 2026. This conference is the premier gathering of railroaders, consulting engineers, academics and others involved in all aspects of railroad environmental engineering, management, and performance.

RailTEC is pleased to welcome Dr. Yuanchen Zeng who will be joining the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in summer 2026 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). Dr. Zeng is currently at Delft University of Technology where he has held a postdoctoral research position in their Railway Engineering section since completing his Ph.D. there in December 2023. He also holds a Ph.D. in Vehicle Operation Engineering from the State Key Laboratory of Rail Vehicle Systems at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, China.

“We are excited that Dr. Zeng will be joining RailTEC” said Christopher P.L. Barkan, Professor, George Krambles Director of RailTEC, and Director of the NURail Center of Excellence. “I’ve thought for many years that we needed to expand our research program in the very topics that he is interested in.  Beyond RailTEC, he will be a valuable addition to the North American rail research and practitioner community.”

RailTEC’s three business pillars of Education, Research, and Service fit nicely with Zeng’s teaching, research, and outreach experience. Zeng has had 14 first-authored papers published in international, peer-reviewed journals. He participated in developing and teaching several TU Delft Master courses on transportation infrastructure, structural health monitoring, and uncertainty quantification and has served as a mentor for two Ph.D., two M.Sc., and four B.Sc. students at TU Delft and supported several M.Sc. and B.Sc. students in their research at Southwest Jiaotong University.

Dr. Zeng’s expertise in rail vehicle-track systems and their safety includes the following areas:

• Advanced sensing, condition monitoring, and data fusion
• Data-driven risk analysis and remaining useful life prediction
• Predictive maintenance and lifespan control
• Structural dynamics and experimental/operational modal analysis
• High-speed train systems

His recent research includes work on use of train-borne laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) for infrastructure monitoring. He is validating this technology in both the laboratory and field, contributing to the success of an EU project (IAM4RAIL) and a Holland High Tech project (MemoLDV). His work also led to new projects sponsored by the Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail (RESET) and Holland High Tech (3D LDVom), in which he is supervising two Ph.D. students. Application of this technology will facilitate frequent, network-level monitoring of railway tracks and support predictive maintenance strategies.

“Dr. Zeng’s research expertise in vehicle-track interaction will complement the rail research expertise throughout CEE at Illinois and will grow our ability to tackle research challenges that span the wheel-rail interface” said J. Riley Edwards, CEE Assistant Professor and Associate Director of the NURail Center of Excellence.

At Southwest Jiaotong University, Dr. Zeng pioneered machine-learning models that characterize wheel degradation using regularly collected data and enabling damage risk quantification, operational safety and performance assessment, and remaining useful life prediction. Based on these models, he further developed a reinforcement learning method that optimizes wheel operation and maintenance decisions to minimize the life cycle cost while enhancing safety. The technology has been patented and applied to more than 1,000 high-speed train sets from over 10 depots in China.

For a more in-depth look at Dr. Zeng’s research, please visit his Google Scholar profile.

Kaifeng Hu started at RailTEC early in the summer of 2025, but he is already taking on the responsibility of continuing the research work started by Neeraj Thakur. Hu studied mechanical engineering before his time at RailTEC and holds a BS from Purdue University and a MS from Carnegie Mellon University, and is now pursuing a PhD at the University of Illinois.

Hu has been interested in railway engineering since his time at Purdue. “I’ve always wanted to do railroad-related research,” he says, and when deciding on what to pursue after his master’s degree, he was drawn by RailTEC’s prestige as a leading railway research organization. “I was looking for the next step,” Hu adds, and RailTEC will be just that, as it allows him to continue work in railway research.

Neeraj Thakur, a recent RailTEC graduate, initiated research at the University of Illinois on thermobuckling, and upon graduation passed the torch to Hu, who is continuing the research into analyzing railroad data to pinpoint thermobuckling issues. “Especially during hotter times, because it’s a very long welded track and there are no gaps or anything to accommodate the thermoexpansion of the track, sometimes the only way for the track to go is sideways,” Hu explains, “and it will definitely cause derailment most of the time if it buckles.” Hu and others working on the project review data of bigger railroad companies compiled from scanning tracks and analyze different aspects of the data to identify what section is prone to buckling. “Resources are limited, money is limited, so they want to use it wisely.”

Hu looks forward to making the best of his time at the University of Illinois, and a personal goal of his is to meet more people and make friends in the upcoming school year. He isn’t set on where to look after RailTEC. “For now, it’s too early to tell, because I see that RailTEC opens a lot of opportunities to connect with the industry.” Hu presented his and Neeraj’s work at the NURail Midwest Conference, and he will have the chance to attend and present at numerous other conferences in his time at RailTEC.

Hu says that he likes the facilities at the University of Illinois. “Everything’s easy to access,” he adds. “I’m excited to explore more, especially now that I have so many resources to work with. There are a lot of things we can do.” In his free time, he also enjoys photography, and likes meeting other rail fans while taking pictures of trains.

You are invited to join us for one or both weeks of RailTEC’s short course this August. Each course will run virtually on Monday – Thursday from noon – 4:00pm (Central) and participants earn 14 professional development hours per week. Past attendees include rail professionals, engineers, planners, consultants and more from employees throughout the rail industry. Participants enrolled in both weeks will receive a $100 discount. For more information and to enroll, click here.

Week One: Track Engineering Fundamentals | 3-6 August 2026

Course Topics: Rail; Crossties & Fasteners; Ballast & Subgrade; Drainage; Slab Track; Turnouts & Special Trackwork; Track Structural Analysis; Track Structural Design; Track Standards & Inspections; Track Maintenance Technologies; Asset Management & Life Cycle Costs
Location: Virtual | Time: Noon-4pm CDT | Instructor: Conrad Ruppert
14 Professional Development Hours

Week Two: Railroad Project Design | 10-13 August 2026

Course Topics: Horizontal Track Geometry; Vertical Track Geometry; Cross Sections & Earthwork; Railroad Location; Location Referencing & Track Charts; Project Phasing; Project Cost Estimation
Location: Virtual | Time: Noon-4pm CDT | Instructor: Conrad Ruppert
14 Professional Development Hours

Since the course focuses on three general topic areas (track structure design, track geometry/project design and train resistance/motive power/rolling stock), attendees who have a stronger background in one area can still learn about other aspects of railway engineering and the interrelationships between them. In gaining a greater appreciation for the holistic view of rail transport as a system, attendees can make better engineering decisions in the future. The short course is an excellent networking opportunity to meet others engaged in various facets of the rail industry.

RailTEC made a solid impact again this year at the 105th Annual Transportation Research Board (TRB) meeting in Washington, D.C. on 11-15 January 2026.  In total there were over 43 separate references of RailTEC faculty, staff, students, and alumni in the rail sections. These references included 30 authors, 10 Committee Members, 2 session chairs, and 1 committee meeting chair. Click here for a guide to 2026 RailTEC contributions at TRB.

One highlight of the conference was the presentation of the 2025 Robert E. Skinner, Jr. Distinguished Transportation Research Management Award to Professor Christopher P.L. Barkan, George Krambles Director of RailTEC at the Chair’s Plenary Session on Wednesday. Dr. Barkan was recognized for his nearly four decades-long career advancing research, safety, and operational capacity in the nation’s rail transportation industry. He is the fourth winner of this notable award. Click here to read TRB’s announcement. The Skinner Award was established by the TRB Executive Committee to recognize outstanding lifetime achievement in management, administration, promotion, fostering, and implementation of transportation research.