The Texas Railway Analysis & Innovation Node (TRAIN) is a team of faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students dedicated to advancing railway operational efficiency, performance reliability, and safety through railroad engineering and transportation research, education and outreach at the University of Texas at Austin.
We are looking for self-motivated PhD, MS, and Undergraduate students to join us! If you are interested in learning more about research opportunities with the TRAIN lab, please email Dr. Dick with your CV and research interests!
TRAIN Faculty
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C. Tyler Dick |
| Assistant Professor, Ph.D., P.E. | |
| ctdick@utexas.edu | |
| B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Manitoba, 1999
M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2001 Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2019 |
|
| Dr. Dick joined UT Austin in Fall 2022 where he leads the TRAIN lab. His current research interests include railway mainline, yard and terminal capacity, design and interaction, railroad network operations and performance resiliency, operations potential of advanced railway traffic control systems with virtual and moving blocks, railway energy efficiency and alternative energy locomotives, technology-assisted train operations and self-propelled autonomous railcars, predictive analytics for operations and maintenance planning, and safety of rail operations and hazardous materials transportation. |
Postdoctoral Fellow
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Diwen (Steven) Shi |
| diwenshi@utmail.utexas.edu | |
| B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2019
M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2021 Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2026 |
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| Steven joined Dr. Dick’s team in Spring 2021. His current research interests include railway mainline operation, transportation emissions mitigation, traffic forecast, resource allocation and multi-modal operations. |
Doctoral Students
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Rydell Walthall |
| rwalthall@utexas.edu | |
| B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2013 M.PAff., Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin, 2019 M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2019 |
|
| Rydell joined Dr. Dick’s team in Fall 2023. His current research interests include rail electrification, transportation economics, and transportation emissions mitigation. |
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Qianqian Tong |
| qianqian_tong@utexas.edu | |
| B.E., Transportation Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, 2023 | |
| M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2025 | |
| Qianqian joined Dr. Dick’s research group in Fall 2023. Her research focuses on multimodal terminal simulation and optimization, dynamic traffic network assignment, and developing models for mitigating transportation emissions. |
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Matthew Friar |
| matthew.friar@utexas.edu | |
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B.S., Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2024 M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2026 |
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| Matthew joined Dr. Dick’s team in Fall 2024. His current research interests include ridership and performance of intercity and commuter passenger rail. |
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Heyang Zhang |
| maxzhang@my.utexas.edu | |
| B.E., Transportation Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, 2022 MSc., Urban Design and Transport, University of Hong Kong, 2024 |
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| Heyang joined Dr. Dick’s team in Fall 2025. His current research interests focus on optimizing transportation networks and developing efficient freight transportation models. |
Masters Students
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Juliana Johnson |
| jj44643@my.utexas.edu | |
| B.S., Civil Engineering, Iowa State University, 2025 | |
| Juliana joined Dr. Dick’s team in Fall 2025. Her current research interests focus on simulations of shared corridor reliability and performance. |
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Aluisio Oliveira |
| aluisio.oliveira@utexas.edu | |
| B.S., Production Engineering, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, 2018 | |
| Aluisio joined Dr. Dick’s team in Spring 2026. His current research interests include shortline railroad yard safety and capacity analysis. |
 |
Tomoya Tanaka |
| tet665@my.utexas.edu | |
| B.S., Structural Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2026 | |
| Tomoya is a current M.S. Structural Engineering student. He joined Dr. Dick’s research group as an undergraduate research assistant in Spring 2025, and as a Graduate Research Assistant in Fall 2026. His research focuses on parametric railway line capacity modeling. |
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Tyler Chen |
| tjc3825@my.utexas.eduu | |
| B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2026 | |
| Tyler joined Dr. Dick’s research group in Fall 2026. His current research focuses on how location, train length, and track geometry contribute to train handling derailments. |
Alumni
Jiaxi Zhao, Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2024
Matt Parkes, M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2024
Jiakai Yuan, M.S., Operations Research and Industrial Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2025
Wang Shi, M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2025