Author: LB Frye

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.”

Despite the winter weather, RailTEC faculty, staff, students and alumni had a good showing in the rail section at the 104th Annual Transportation Research Board (TRB) meeting in Washington, D.C. on 5-9 January 2025. In total there were over 45 separate references, including 25 authors, 16 Committee Members, 3 session chairs and 2 committee meeting chairs. Click here for a guide to 2025 RailTEC contributions at TRB.

The TRB Committee on Transportation of Hazardous Materials (AT040) presented an Outstanding Paper Award to an article with ties to four RailTEC alumni. “Quantifying the Influence of Tank Car Position and Train Configuration on Risk of Rail Transport of Class 3 Flammable Liquids” was written by Di Kang (State University of New Jersey), Jiaxi Zhao (UT Austin), C. Tyler Dick (UT Austin), Xiang Liu (State University of New Jersey), Chen-Yu Lin (National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University), Zheyong Bian (University of Houston) and Steven Kirkpatrick (Applied Research Associates, Inc.). Jiaxi, Tyler, Chen-Yu and Xiang are all former RailTEC members while Di Kang and Zheyong Bian are Xiang’s PhD students and Jiaxi Zhao was Tyler’s PhD student.

Also during TRB 2025, Cambridge Systematics presented the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) New Faculty Award to RailTEC alumni Tyler Dick. Every year since 2003, Cambridge Systematics has recognized a tenure-track faculty member in transportation education who has made outstanding teaching and research contributions to the transportation field. Tyler is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. At UT, he lectures on railway design and operations topics, and supervises a team of graduate students engaged in research on railway operations, capacity and alternative energy topics for a range of Class 1 railroad, agency and rail industry supplier sponsors. Before joining UT Austin in 2022, Tyler spent ten years as Research Associate Professor, Lecturer and Principal Research Engineer with RailTEC at Illinois.

The TRB Annual Meeting brings together transportation research professionals from around the world and is the largest global gathering of transportation professionals and researchers with a focus on innovative solutions for all modes of transportation. The thousands of transportation administrators, practitioners, policy makers, and researchers who attended the conference participated in more than 3,000+ presentations in 350+ sessions; 350+ meetings organized by TRB standing committees; curated programs and 3 days of exhibits, showcasing transportation-related products and services.

The 2026 TRB Annual Meeting will be held 11-15 January 2026 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C.

The University of Illinois Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC) and the National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE) sponsored six William W. Hay Railroad Engineering Seminars throughout the Fall 2024 semester.  Over 750 students, faculty and industry professionals (both in person and online) attended and participants were worldwide.

The initial presentation of the seminar series was given on 30 August by Illinois RailTEC alumni Dr. Chen-Yu Lin.  Lin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Transportation and Logistics Management at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan and he presented on “Adapting to Future Climate for Railway Systems”. Other speaker highlights included Michael Iden, Mike Cleary, Joe Szabo and Tyler Dick. Click here for a list of the presenters and their presentation titles.

The Fall series wrapped up on 06 December with Paul Vilter and Peter Swan and their discussion on “Long Freight Trains: Ensuring Safe Operations, Mitigating Adverse Impacts”. Their presentation, as well as a recording of each of the individual presentations for the semester, can be found on the William W. Hay Railroad Engineering Seminar page or on the RailTEC YouTube channel. A big thank you to all the speakers who shared their time and knowledge this semester.

Another exciting series of Hay Seminars is being planned for the Spring 2025 semester so check back soon for schedule updates.

Students, staff, and faculty from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s RailTEC program as well as other universities involved with the National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE), a federally funded consortium of nine universities led by Illinois, attended the University of Delaware’s Big Data in Railway Maintenance Planning Conference on 11 – 12 December in Newark, Delaware.

During the conference, Arthur Lima, a RailTEC senior research engineer, presented his research on “Cross-Correlation-Based Railway Change Detection: A Novel Approach for Maintenance Detection.” Graduate research assistants Augusto Ramos, Gustavo Ramos, Panshul Jindal, and Yash Kakde assisted with the research.

J. Riley Edwards, RailTEC assistant professor and senior associate director of NURail CoE, also attended this year’s conference which introduced new and emerging analysis techniques and how those methods can be applied to the large volume of inspection and operational data collected by railways to improve maintenance programs.

RailTEC is delighted to share that alumnus, Po-Yin (Paul) Liao, was part of the Arup-Jacobs project management team that won the 2024 Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence, along with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, for its work on the Long Island Railroad Expansion Project. The four-year Long Island Railroad Expansion Project added a third, 9.8-mile stretch of track that alleviates congestion and allows more trains to travel in both directions, eliminated eight dangerous at-grade crossings, replaced seven bridges with taller structures, upgraded six stations with enhanced accessibility, and rebuilt the infrastructure with a new signal system, enhanced positive train control and mechanical and electrical systems, and new durable concrete ties.

The Hay Award for Excellence recognizes Arup-Jacobs joint efforts managing the project which included using creative construction methods to minimize service disruptions, such as Box Jacking, a steerable rolling gantry crane for track switch installation, and collaborative digital technology to accelerate design-build delivery. Awarded during the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) Conference held on September 15-18 in Louisville, Ky., this award was established by the directors of AREMA in 1999 to recognize outstanding achievement in railway engineering and to honor the memory and accomplishments of one of its members and leaders, the late Dr. William Walter Hay, a professor of railway civil engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. One of the highest awards in the rail industry, the criterion for the award includes innovation, safety, and service performance and reliability.

Liao is a senior track/civil engineer specializing in railroad engineering in Arup’s New York office. His experience includes mega rail projects, and his work with railroad track departments, railroad operation analysis, and geospatial technologies allows him to efficiently develop design schemes and visualize complex designs with the latest technology. Liao earned an MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he worked as a RailTEC Graduate Research Assistant. His research focus was primarily rail transportation, rail simulation, and rail traffic capacity analysis.

Other RailTEC alumni also participated in the Long Island Railroad Expansion Project.