Congratulations to faculty members Konstantin Sobolev (left) and Pradeep Rohatgi (right), who received UWM Research Foundation Bridge grants that will support the commercialization of their inventions: spray-on protection for concrete and a stronger aluminum.
The nation is preparing for seismic changes in transportation and UWM secured a role at the table in February with a $1.67 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to advance research and education programs that address a specific challenge: promoting pedestrian and bicycle safety.
On March 6, Mark Gottlieb, associate director of UWM’s Institute for Physical Infrastructure and Transportation, was a guest on the Wisconsin Public Radio show Central Time. He discussed the pros and cons of toll roads as a funding source.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation awarded $75,000 to Xiao Qin for a 10-month project that aims to improve the state’s highway safety by further improving data analysis related to crashes. Qin is a Lawrence E. Sivak ’71 professor of civil & environmental engineering in UWM’s College of Engineering & Applied Science and director of the university’s Institute for Physical Infrastructure and Transportation.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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