Author: LB Frye

Panshul Jindal is using his computer science expertise to analyze data for rail research conducted in the RailTEC program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Jindal is pursuing a master’s degree in computer science from Illinois and expects to graduate in May 2025. He received a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 2023 from VIT in Vellore, India.  Jindal arrived at Illinois in January 2024 and learned about the RailTEC program from his roommate Yash Kakde who also is involved with RailTEC. “I was looking for opportunities to analyze data, and Yash introduced me to RailTEC,” he said.

So far, Jindal has worked on two research projects during his tenure at RailTEC. One project involves working with Senior Principal Research Engineer Marcus Dersch and using a Power BI dashboard to visualize and analyze data to measure track health and capacity. “I look at how much load we can carry on the track and use cloud computer techniques on Microsoft Azure to do parallel data processing,” he explained.  His other research project entails track health maintenance at an out-of-state site. “It’s never-ending research,” he said. “I’ve had a lovely time utilizing my research and computer science expertise in the rail industry. “The management team are the most helpful people in my life,” he added. “We learn from them every day. We get to push ourselves and know we have something in ourselves to succeed.”

In addition, Jindal said being involved in the RailTEC program has provided him the opportunity to attend conferences and has helped him hone his presentation skills. “It has been a good learning opportunity for me, especially how to make presentations,” he said. “My presentation skills have really improved, and the quality of my presentations has improved. Also, I get to learn something new when I go to conferences,” he added.

One of his favorite RailTEC experiences was attending the AREMA (American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association) conference in September 2024, in Louisville, Kentucky. “My time at AREMA was magical. I had never experienced anything like that,” he said. “It has increased my interest in the rail industry.” Because of his RailTEC experience, Jindal said he now plans to stay in the United States after graduation and secure a job working in the rail industry.

Illinois student leaders worked tirelessly with student groups, research labs, and others to ensure that over 200 exhibits were ready for the expected 40,000 – 50,000 campus visitors attending the 2025 Engineering Open House (EOH) on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. Held on 4-5 April, the theme of this year’s EOH was “The Age of Innovation”. 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. Click here for the 2025 EOH visitor’s guide. 

The visitors that stopped by the Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory had the opportunity to view six different rail exhibits. Some of the interactive rail exhibits included demonstrations of railway control and signaling, a train simulator, highway/rail crossings, intermodal game and a new train and track dynamics demo.  

In addition, RailTEC hosted a group of middle and high school students and their chaperones from Hanson Professional Services at the event on Saturday. RailTEC was honored to continue this tradition which originally started in 2014.  These students participated in STEM activities and listened to a presentation by Illinois student Grant Lindsay, Programs Chair of the UIUC Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). The mission of NSBE is to increase the number of culturally responsible Black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally, and positively impact the community. 

Yash Kakde wasn’t familiar with railroad operations before joining the RailTEC program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, but he is now considering a career in the rail industry. After graduating in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering in Pune, India, Kakde worked for one-and-a-half years as a data analyst for the cyber security company, Qualys. He arrived at UIUC in January 2024 to earn a master’s degree in computer science and expects to graduate in May 2025.

“All of my family has a background in computer science; my dad is a computer engineer,” he said. “UIUC is considered one of the best colleges in the U.S. for computer science.”

Kakde admits coming to the United States was overwhelming.  “I had never lived alone before and had never been to the U.S. It was initially a bit scary,” he said. “I had to get accustomed to the people, the weather, and driving on the other side of the road. I like cold weather, and I like snow,” he added. “I’m adapting to living on my own. I cook my own meals and cleaning my own place is fun.”

Kakde was actively looking for a job on campus in which he could use his computer science skills when he saw a posting for hourly employees in the RailTEC program. “Everything aligned with what I do here and what RailTEC does,” he said. “But being from a computer science background, I didn’t know anything about railroads.”

RailTEC graduate research assistant Augusto Ramos (2024 MS) taught Kakde everything he needed to know about rail research. “Augusto was a big, big help to me,” Kakde said. “He was like a big brother to me.”

Kakde uses machine learning and computer science in a cross-correlation project being conducted by RailTEC research engineers. “I am pre-processing data before it’s used and deciding what method to use to model track degradation,” he explained. “I implement the method to predict the degradation of the track based on the current condition of the track and come up with the cross correlation to detect when track maintenance happened previously.

“I also am doing a lot of data handling for rail industry companies,” he added. “I’ve met a few industry partners and learned what others are doing with data. Since I was coming into this from a computer science background, I knew nothing about the rail industry, but I’ve learned how big it is,” he said. “Looking at it at that perspective is really interesting to me. The scope of the rail industry is interesting to me. I used train transportation quite a bit in India, but I never looked at railroads this way and now I’m helping to improve them.”

Kakde said he has made friendships and lasting memories being in RailTEC, including playing “football” (soccer) at the ARC and collaborating with other graduate research assistants in their designated room in the Newmark Civil Engineering Lab basement.

“With the support we get from the management team, I’ve never felt lonely and if I have an issue – even a life issue – they’re here to help.” Spending time with Assistant Prof. Riley Edwards, Senior Principal Research Engineer Marcus Dersch and Senior Research Engineer Arthur Lima and their families at social gatherings are “memories I’ll cherish forever,” Kakde said.

“It was always a plan to work here in cyber security, but now I can see the rail industry is a new avenue for me,” he said, adding that he will be interning this summer at CSX in Jacksonville, Florida.

RailTEC and the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are pleased to announce an opening for a new, tenure track faculty position in railway systems engineering. Following are some highlights of the announcement. For the official announcement, more information about the position, and how to apply, please visit the webpage https://illinois.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/13403?c=illinois. Full consideration will be given to applications received by April 16, 2025 at 6:00 pm (CST).

Assistant Professor – Railway Transportation Engineering

The Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign seeks highly qualified candidates to fill a tenure-track Assistant Professor full-time faculty position.  Exceptional applicants in all areas relevant to Rail Transportation and Engineering will be considered. Some example areas of interest are Railway Systems, Operation, and Safety with expertise in one or more of the following areas:

• rail capacity analysis and modeling
• rail network planning and analysis
• rail freight and passenger transportation operation
• advanced train control
• computer-aided railway traffic control
• rail system and operational optimization
• automated/autonomous train operating systems
• train operating mechanics
• train dynamics including wheel/rail interface
• railway energy efficiency and motive power
• integrated passenger and freight railway system safety and risk analysis
• railway terminal system design and operation
• rail transit
• high-speed and intercity passenger rail

The successful candidate will be capable of working with a variety of industry and government sponsors and partners. They are also expected to initiate and sustain a vigorous, independently funded research program, demonstrate a strong commitment to undergraduate and graduate teaching and mentoring of students at all levels, and provide service to the department, the university, and the profession.

Please visit https://jobs.illinois.edu to view the complete position announcement and application instructions.  For further information regarding application procedures, please address questions to Stacie Mertes at smertes@illinois.edu.

The deadline for submitting abstracts for both the Railroad Environmental Conference (RREC) and the new Sustainability & Resiliency (S&R) Day is quickly approaching. All abstracts received by Monday, 31 March will be reviewed by the Planning Committee for consideration for presentation at the 2025 RREC and/or S&R Day.

RREC will be hosted by the Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC) at the iHotel and Illinois Conference Center in Champaign, IL on 11-12 November 2025. This conference is the premier gathering of railroaders, consulting engineers, academics and others involved in all aspects of railroad environmental engineering, management, and performance.

Abstract Guidelines:

In discussion with railroaders and consulting engineers regarding the technical content of the conference program, several factors and philosophies have consistently been mentioned. Presentation topics will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. Abstract Quality
2. Timeliness
3. Relevance to Railroads
4. Innovation
5. Ability to Evaluate Success (or Failure)
6. Broad Significance
7. Uniqueness

 
For more information on Abstract Guidelines, please visit our webpage: https://rrec.railtec.illinois.edu/call-for-abstracts/

Professor Christopher P.L. Barkan, George Krambles Director of RailTEC, spoke at Railway Age’s Next-Generation Freight Rail (NGFR) conference on Tuesday 11 March 2025 at the Union League Club of Chicago. During his presentation on long-freight train safety research initiatives Barkan explored risk analysis; physical impacts of large trains on the North American railroad network; safety considerations; regulatory initiatives; train and engine crew impacts; and how larger trains should fit into a safer, more efficient, sustainable, equitable and reliable rail transportation system. The presentation was very well received.

During the conference luncheon the 2025 winners of Railway Age‘s Fast Trackers 25 Under 40 awards were recognized. RailTEC alumnus, Luv Sehgal, was among the honorees. Sehgal (MS ‘17), Senior Rail Designer at Arup, has more than eight years of experience in railway infrastructure, rail decarbonization and design excellence for passenger and freight. Click here to see Luv’s award bio.

A conference in Scotland nearly six years ago led Jaeik Lee to the RailTEC program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a PhD candidacy. Lee worked at KORAIL, the largest railway company in Korea, for three years after earning a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Pusan National University. He then returned to school to earn a master’s degree in railway engineering in August 2020, at Seoul National University of Science and Technology. The master’s degree program afforded Lee the opportunity to attend a Railway Engineering Conference during the summer of 2019 where he heard a presentation from the UIUC Civil and Environmental Engineering Department about geotechnical engineering. Lee’s interest was piqued. “I needed to find out more about what UIUC was doing,” he said. “When I Google searched, there weren’t a lot of universities doing rail infrastructure research.”  

Lee not only found RailTEC but also Assistant Professor Riley Edwards who teaches rail-related courses and conducts research within the RailTEC program. “I wanted to do the research he was doing with infrastructure,” Lee said of Edwards. Lee’s plans to arrive on the UIUC campus for the Fall 2020 semester, however, were derailed by the pandemic. Although his fall classes were online, Lee was able to travel to UIUC to attend classes on campus starting with the Spring 2021 Semester.  

 Recalling his first impressions of the United States, Lee said, “I thought Chicago was huge and cutting edge, but this area (Central Illinois) is small and rural.” Still, Lee and his wife, who joined him in the U.S. two years ago, enjoy the diverse cultures on campus. “I think the Korean restaurants here are okay, but my wife can cook better,” he laughed. 

In early February, Lee defended his dissertation, “Railroad Turnout Frog Profile Geometry and Elasticity Optimization Using Revenue Service Wheel Profiles.” Lee explained his research entails improving turnout performance by optimizing its geometry and elasticity, thereby increasing reliability and reducing maintenance costs. Although Lee passed the defense of his dissertation, his research work is not over yet. “I will keep working on research related to turnouts as well as under tie pads (UTPs) under various track and train operating conditions,” he said.  

Lee said he has enjoyed working alongside the RailTEC research team comprised of Professor Edwards and research engineers Marcus Dersch and Arthur Lima. “Riley, Marcus and Arthur are a great, great team,” Lee said. “They are great people.” Lee plans to continue working in academia as a post-doctorate in the RailTEC program. “It’s a great honor and a great opportunity to be a part of RailTEC,” he said. 

Professor Christopher P.L. Barkan, George Krambles Director of RailTEC, will be featured at Railway Age’s Next-Generation Freight Rail (NGFR) conference in a presentation focused on long-freight train safety research initiatives.  During his presentation he will explore risk analysis; physical impacts of large trains on the North American railroad network; safety considerations; regulatory initiatives; train and engine crew impacts; and how larger trains should fit into a safer, more efficient, sustainable, equitable and reliable rail transportation system.

The conference will be held on 11 March 2025 at the Union League Club of Chicago.  The conference luncheon will acknowledged the 2025 winners of Railway Age‘s Fast Trackers 25 Under 40 award where RailTEC alumnus, Luv Sehgal, will be recognized. To read the Railway Age article on the conference, click here.

In the February 2025 issue of Railway Age, the magazine announced their “Fast Trackers” 25 Under 40 awards in which they profile 25 individuals under the age of 40 who have made an impact in their respective fields or within their company.  RailTEC alumni Luv Sehgal (MS ‘17), Senior Rail Designer at Arup, was one of this year’s honorees. The 25 individuals chosen for the award this year were judged on their industry experience and education, leadership skills, industry contributions and community service involvement. Luv has more than eight years of experience in railway infrastructure, rail decarbonization and design excellence for passenger and freight. Click here to see Luv’s award bio.

Ten years ago, when Railway Age first created the list, they recognized ten of the top North American railroaders under the age of 40. Due to the growing number of entries and outstanding candidates, this number was increased to 20 in 2021 and then to 25 in 2022. Two other RailTEC alumni, Sean Pengelly and Jonathan Wnek, made their list in 2024.

The RailTEC program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has placed Jose Augusto Venancio Da Silva Ramos on the right track for a career in the rail industry.  Prior to graduating last month with a master’s degree in civil engineering from Illinois, Ramos earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 2019 from the Federal University of Technology – Parana, Brazil. Ramos had been working since 2020 at Rumo, Brazil’s largest railroad, when he learned by happenstance about RailTEC from a friend’s friend.

“His friend’s friend, Ian Germoglio (2022 MS), was about to graduate from here (UIUC) and knew they were looking for good students interested in railroad research,” Ramos explained. “I talked to Ian about RailTEC, and the projects sounded interesting and were related to what I was doing with data from track inspection and modeling,” he said. When Ramos joined RailTEC in January 2023, it was also his first time in the United States. He found everyone at UIUC to be warm and welcoming, but not so much the Central Illinois winter weather. “Everyone is really nice – the faculty and the students, but winter is really winter here,” Ramos said. “There is snow and cold, and it is the opposite season to Brazil.”

As a RailTEC Graduate Research Assistant, Ramos’ research entailed understanding the degradation of track using novel data. To accomplish that, Ramos operated a Laser Rail Inspection System (LRAIL) which uses 3D laser scanners and computer vision to identify track components and the condition of the track. “With multiple inspections of it, we can see how track is degrading over time,” he explained. “My main role was dealing with the giant amount of data and extracting relevant information from the data.”

“It’s a tool that can improve reliability and safety because people aren’t walking on the track to do inspections,” he added. In addition to his research, Ramos took on a leadership role as president of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way (AREMA) Student Chapter, helping to advance the goals and objectives of RailTEC. “It was a great experience and put me in a leadership position, bringing together students and rail industry professionals,” he said.

Through RailTEC, Ramos has made many connections in the rail industry that have led him to a new job this month in asset and data management for railroads at VisioStack in Greenville, SC.  “I have enjoyed going out on field visits, and I have met a lot of people in the rail industry,” Ramos said of RailTEC. “It is a unique experience, and I’m very thankful for the exposure I have had to conferences, industry experts, and all the management team and staff from RailTEC.”