It was a busy fall semester of conferences for TRAIN faculty and students!
In September, Prof. Dick travelled to Louisville, KY to attend the AREMA Annual Conference and Chair the meeting of AREMA Committee 16 (Economics of Railway Engineering & Operations).
In October, Prof. Dick travelled to the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association Eastern & Southern Region Meeting held in Jacksonville, FL to present on the challenges and opportunities of alternative energy locomotive development in the shortline and regional railway context.
Later in October, Prof. Dick and TRAIN doctoral students Qianqian Tong and Steven Shi travelled to the INFORMS Annual Meeting in Seattle, along with several other members of the UT Transportation Group. Qianqian presented on her work to optimize the layout of inland truck-rail intermodal terminals. Steven presented on his work to evaluate the optimal deployment of battery electric locomotives across different battery sizes, route characteristics, train properties, and charging strategy. Prof. Dick also presented on TRAIN graduate Jiaxi Zhao’s research to model railway network dynamics with multi-yard simulation and mainline interaction.
At the same time, TRAIN doctoral student Rydell Walthall presented on his research to evaluate the costs and benefits of modern options for freight railway electrification at the NEMA Railroad Electrification Coalition meeting in Arlington, VA. Later in October, Prof. Dick presented on this same research project at the 26th Railroad Environmental Conference held in Urbana, IL.
Finally, in early November, prof. Dick had the honor of travelling to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to deliver an invited WW Hay Railroad Engineering Seminar on Modeling the Economics of Modern Options for Mainline Freight Railway Electrification.