Transportation and Infrastructure Systems Engineering
As a branch of civil engineering, transportation engineering has a history that is long and illustrious and a future that is full of promise. The National Academy of Engineering has identified restoring urban infrastructure and implementing smart mobility as grand challenges. We need coordinated approaches to tackle transportation issues by integrating car, rail, bus, truck, walking and bicycling to meet sustainability goals. Currently, we see how smartphones have enabled ride sharing services such as Uber and Lyft, while taxis and GPS-equipped cars and trucks are providing massive amounts of data that was unimaginable a few years back. Before long, it may be common to have vehicles are talking to infrastructure (V2I) and vehicles talking to each other (V2V). Traffic flow with automated vehicles is expected to be much safer and more efficient than with human drivers.
The journey to that future will be fascinating and challenging. The safe and efficient movement of people and goods relies on infrastructure. Highways, airports, railroads, waterways and pipelines need to be planned, designed, operated, and maintained. Purdue's Transportation and Infrastructure Systems Engineering faculty offer a wide range of classes, research facilities, and experiences. Their efforts will have noticeable impacts on challenges such as:
- Asset management
- Data acquisition and analytics
- Emergency response
- Energy
- Freight Transportation and Logistics
- Environment
- Smart Mobility
- Sustainability
- Urban infrastructure
The award-winning Purdue Student Chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers introduces students to the transportation profession and fosters a close association of students with practicing engineers, educators from other institutions, and local and national chapters of ITE.
Spotlights
February 23, 2016
On Wednesday, February 17, 2016, the Cedar Grove Bridge came strategically crashing down into Franklin County's Whitewater River.
February 16, 2016
On February 10, 2016, the Purdue Memorial Union North Ballroom was full of posters sharing innovative research ideas with Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) Executive Staff and Directors.
February 1, 2016
The Automated Traffic Signal Performance Measure (SPM) Workshop, held on January 26-27, 2016, in Salt Lake City, Utah, provided a forum to share best practices, agency progress, and configuring and troubleshooting tips, as well as to discuss the potential future of SPMs.
January 18, 2016
Purdue faculty, staff and students attended the Transportation Research Board (TRB) 95th Annual Meeting on January 10–14, 2016, in Washington, D.C.
January 15, 2016
A paper co-authored by Steven Lavrenz, Christopher Day, and Darcy Bullock, from Purdue University, along with INDOT Engineer Rick Freije and Elkhart County Engineer Jay Grossman received the 2016 Transportation Research Board (TRB) Traffic Signal System Committee Best Paper Award at this year's TRB conference in Washington, DC.
January 12, 2016
CE Professor Satish Ukkusuri has been selected by the National Academy of Engineering to attend the Japan-America Frontiers of Engineering (JAFOE), along with 60 other engineers who have all been determined by the academy to be future leaders of the engineering field. The event will be June 16-18 in Irvine, California.
December 22, 2015
CE grad student V. Dimitra Pyrialakou has received the prestigious Leadership Legacy Graduate Scholarship through the Women's Transportation Seminar Greater Chicago Area chapter.
December 19, 2015
The Purdue University Board of Trustees on Saturday (Dec. 19) ratified Srinivas Peeta as the Jack and Kay Hockema Professor in Civil Engineering. Peeta is a professor of civil engineering and director of the NEXTRANS Center at Purdue. He came to Purdue in 1994 as an assistant professor of civil engineering. He became associate professor in 2000 and was named professor in 2006.
December 14, 2015
Civil Engineering graduate student Julie Yu Qiao has been awarded the Neville A. Parker Science & Technology award for an outstanding MS non-thesis research report. This award is given by the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) and is sponsored by the American Roads and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA).
October 2, 2015
Purdue University professional flight students are receiving a $795 reduction in semester fees as a direct result of an updated aircraft usage plan. The new fee structure is expected to save students $250,000 over the next two academic years. John Mott, associate head for aviation technology, assembled a team of Purdue researchers to collect real-time data on the university's fleet of Cirrus SR-20 aircraft. The team included Darcy Bullock, director of Purdue's Joint Transportation Research Program, and civil engineering graduate student Maggie McNamara.
September 24, 2015
A paper by Prof. Srinivas Peeta, Ph.D. student Yong Hoon Kim, and NEXTRANS research associate Xiaozheng He was recognized as being among the top three papers of the IEEE 18th International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems in Las Palmas De Gran Canaria, Spain.
September 3, 2015
When V. Dimitra Pyrialakou, a doctoral candidate focusing on transportation engineering, moved to the United States from Greece, she was astonished by the many differences between European and American transportation systems and planning practices, especially in rural and small urban areas. Now, she is working to rethink such areas.
September 3, 2015
Purdue University, led by Prof. Satish Ukkusuri along with researchers from Virginia Tech and North Dakota State University, have been selected to receive a $2.5 million National Science Foundation Hazards SEES grant to understand the role of uncertainty in hurricane evacuation decision-making.
August 11, 2015
Professor Jan Olek’s paper, "Quick Determination of Freeze-Thaw Durability of Concrete Aggregate Using the Indiana DOT Hydraulic Fracture Test Equipment" was selected as the Transportation Research Board 2015 Best Paper for the Geology and Properties Section of the Mineral Aggregates Committee.
August 5, 2015
Congratulations to the Purdue Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) team on placing 3rd at the ITE Traffic Bowl Grand Championship, held August 3rd, 2015 in Hollywood, Florida!
July 7, 2015
President Li Yinguo of Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications (CQUPT) honored Dr. Srinivas Peeta as Honorary Guest Professor during his collaboratory visit to the school on June 29th.
June 29, 2015
On June 25, President Daniels testified before the Senate Finance Committee. President Daniels’ opening remarks reference the Purdue Road School, an event co-sponsored by JTRP and LTAP. President Daniels has been a long-time supporter of the Purdue Road School, first participating when he gave the 2006 Road School Luncheon address during the launch of Major Moves and this past year when he hosted a session with Mayor Dennis on the innovative partnership between the City and Purdue on the State Street initiative.
May 27, 2015
Rodrigo Netto de Souza, a Lyles School of Civil Engineering student, participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program during the summer of 2014. His mentors for this project were Professor John Haddock, Laura Slusher (Indiana LTAP) and graduate student Yu Tian.
May 9, 2015
Graduate student researcher Davis Chacon-Hurtado was selected as one of three winners in the 2015 International Road Federation (IRF) Student Essay Competition with his essay titled, "Integrated Traffic-ticketing Management System."
May 5, 2015
Emily Bonini, a student in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering, participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program during summer 2014. Her mentors for this project were Professor John Haddock, Pat Connor, and graduate student Yu Tian.
