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A truck carrying an over-height load becomes wedged under a concrete bridge, causing debris to fall and leading to a bridge closure. An over-height tractor trailer slams into a train bridge, damaging infrastructure and halting traffic flow for hours. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), over-height vehicles are among the main causes of structural damage to bridges — a nationwide problem that has eluded enduring, effective countermeasures. The agency is ready to conduct research and field evaluation of an energy-dissipating prototype that could protect bridge girders in the event of a strike from these vehicles. They have chosen two teams from across the nation for this work, one that includes two UWM experts in bridge impacts and repairing damaged bridge structures–Xiao Qin and Habib Tabatabai. The two have partnered with Applied Research Associates and now will be allowed to bid on various tasks within the $1.8 million FHWA-led project. 

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Close to 150 people from across the transportation landscape recently attended the 2022 Southeast Wisconsin Transportation Symposium, held at UWM and co-hosted by UWM’s Institute of Physical Infrastructure and Transportation (IPIT) and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT). Twenty-four speakers—representing academia, government, non-profit institutions, and industry—showcased innovative projects and addressed topics including the state’s electric vehicle infrastructure plan, promises and pitfalls of emerging vehicle technology, comprehensive crash analysis, and municipal green infrastructure.

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The National Science Foundation awarded Roshan D’Souza, associate professor of mechanical engineering and Alan D. Kulwicki ’77 faculty fellow, a $1.1 million grant to research the hemodynamics from subtraction-computed tomography angiography (SCTA). The four-year grant comes through NSF’s Smart and Connected Health Program and starts in September. 

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Konstantin Sobolev, Lawrence E. Sivak ’71 Faculty Fellow and professor, civil & environmental engineering, and Jian Zhao, associate professor, civil & environmental engineering, will collaborate with the University of Texas at Arlington and a consortium of European universities on a project that ultimately aims to mitigate concrete’s role in global warming. In September, a $1.5 million National Science Foundation grant launched a project—Advancing International Partnerships in Research for Decoupling Concrete Manufacturing and Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions—that will support the creation of a multidisciplinary consortium in the U.S. and Europe dedicated to technological advancements to decarbonize the concrete industry. It is being led by investigators at the University of Texas at Arlington.

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In September, Xiao Qin, professor of civil & environmental engineering and a Lawrence E. Sivak ’71 professor, accepted an invitation from Craig Thompson, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, to serve on WisDOT’s Wisconsin Automated Vehicle External (WAVE) Advisory Committee. The committee supports the development of a safe and efficient transportation system in Wisconsin at a time when Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) research and technological advances are moving forward at an incredible pace. Specifically, they will review critical issues related to CAV research and make recommendations to WisDOT on planning priorities, implementation policies, and transportation system impacts.

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Deyang Qu, an internationally recognized energy-storage and renewable energy expert, was named a UWM Distinguished Professor in May. Qu is a Johnson Controls Endowed Professorship in Energy Storage Research and is chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering in UWM’s College of Engineering & Applied Science. He is also an IPIT affiliated faculty member

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Congratulations to the following eight faculty members at UWM’s College of Engineering & Applied Science, each of whom was honored with a named professorship or named fellowship.

The named professorships and fellowships support the growth of some of the college’s key research areas and honor recipients’ research, teaching and scholarship. They were made possible by the generosity of recent donors. “I am very grateful to our donors, who were excited to support our faculty in this way,” said Dean Brett Peters.

Five of them are IPIT affiliated faculty members.

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In January 2022, Wisconsin Department of Transportation awarded $138,178 to UWM’s Institute for Physical Infrastructure and Transportation (IPIT) for program of reviewing Wis-DOT’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise; this 18-month program aims to increase disadvantaged business enterprises (DBE) participation in and success rate of winning highway project contracts.The PI on this project is Al Ghorbanpoor, emeritus professor, civil & environmental engineering and founding director of IPIT; co-PIs are Steve Trick, research scientist with IPIT, and Qin.

WisDOT carries out the federal government’s DBE program, which provides minorities, women and other eligible small businesses with opportunities to participate in highway, transit and airport contracts that are federally or state funded. The intent of the program is to improve the competitiveness of DBEs and increase their participation in Wisconsin’s highway projects.

UWM researchers will evaluate WisDOT’s DBE. Among the tasks: identify barriers to firms’ participation and methods to remove them; make recommendations to maximize DBE participation and its success rate. The team will also recommend a DBE pilot training program to help set directions for developing and implementing a unique and robust DBE pilot training program in Wisconsin.

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In January 2022, Wisconsin Department of Transportation awarded $78,228 to UWM’s Institute for Physical Infrastructure and Transportation (IPIT) for program of evaluating Wis-DOT’s Design-Build; this program is meant to streamline highway projects. The co-PIs on this project are Mark Gottlieb, IPIT’s associate director, and Scott Solverson, a research scientist with IPIT.

A UWM team will conduct a third-party evaluation of Wis-DOT’s recently-launched Design-Build program. The program streamlines highway improvement projects by bringing together engineering and construction industries at the outset, with the goals of reducing costs, accelerating project delivery, and enhancing synergy, innovation and communication. The team will also review programs in other states, national best practices, and the processes WisDOT uses to select Design-Build projects. The final report will include recommendations for process improvement and criteria with which to evaluate the program.

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UWM’s Institute for Physical Infrastructure and Transportation (IPIT) welcomes Mr. Scott Solverson, as a Assistant Scientist and the newest member of the team!. Mr. Scott Solverson, P.E., AVS joined the Institute for Physical Infrastructure and Transportation (IPIT) after 31 years of career at HNTB Corporation. Mr. Solverson was a Vice President and Wisconsin Construction Services Director. He has over 40 years of engineering and management experience, including design, program and construction management of Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) and municipal projects, as well as being a practiced Value Practitioner. His project experience includes Program Management, Design/Build, Construction Management, Highway and Street Design, Transit Systems, Airport Design, Municipal Engineering and Value Engineering.