ATHAPHON (KWAN) KAWPRASERT

Currently working on M.S.

 

Daniel Peltier received a BSE degree in Computer Science from Princeton University in 1998, and moved to Boston to write business intelligence software for Oracle Corp.'s Online Analytic Processing (OLAP) group. Quickly realizing that business intelligence software did not hold as much interest to him as some other things in life, such as railroads, he soon began pursuing part-time studies in Civil Engineering at Tufts University. In the fall of 2005, he left Oracle and moved to Champaign to study for a MS in Civil Engineering with the University of Illinois Railroad Engineering Program. His research focuses on applications of next generation sensor networks to railroad infrastructure monitoring. Such sensor networks combine simple, wireless installation, self-configuring radio networking, extremely low power consumption, and autonomous operation; they offer an inexpensive way for a railroad to expand greatly its knowledge of the state of its most critical infrastructure components. Mr. Peltier is collaborating with members of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering to develop a system that can automatically track the degradation of a bonded insulated rail joint and notify railroad personnel when the joint is nearing failure.

Peltier, D., Barkan, C.P.L. Modeling the Effects of Epoxy Debonding on Bonded Insulated Rail Joints Subjected to Longitudinal Loads . Proceedings of the TRB 87th Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (January 2008).

Peltier, D., Barkan, C.P.L. , Downing, S., Socie, D. Measuring Degradation of Bonded Insulated Rail Joints . Proceedings of the AREMA 2007 Annual Conference, Chicago, IL (September 2007).

Peltier, D., C.P.L. Barkan, S. Downing, D. Socie. Using Strain Gauges to Detect Epoxy Debonding in Insulated Rail Joints . In Proceedings: International Heavy Haul Conference Specialist Technical Session - High Tech in Heavy Haul , Kiruna, Sweden, June 2007, pp. 151-158.

Jeremiah Dirnberger received his B.S. degree in Industrial and Management Engineering from Montana State University in 2003. He entered the University of Illinois in fall 2004 and received his M.S. in Civil Engineering with a focus on railroad engineering in 2006. As an undergrad, he was a member of a design team that won 1st place in the 2003 College Industry Council on Material Handling Education National Student Design Competition and he was also awarded 1st place in the 2003 Institute of Industrial Engineers Region VII technical paper competition. His research was an analysis of the factors that contribute to unstable operations at railroad classification terminals. By conducting a series of individual terminal case studies, determined how soon unstable operational trends can be identified and what proactive measures should be taken. He took a systems approach and adapted methodologies that have worked well in manufacturing process improvement in the areas of statistical process capability assessment and control, variability reduction and operations management.

Dirnberger, J.R. and C.P.L. Barkan 2007. Lean railroading: Improving railroad classification terminal performance through bottleneck management methods. Accepted, Transportation Research Record - Journal of the Transportation Research Board.

Dirnberger, J.R. and C.P.L. Barkan. Improving Railroad Classification Yard Performance Through Bottleneck Management Methods. Proceedings of the AREMA 2006 Annual Conference, Louisville, KY (September 2006).

Dirnberger, J.R. and C.P.L. Barkan. Implementing Bottleneck Management Techniques and Establishing Quality of Sort Relationships to Improve Terminal Processing Capacity. Proceedings of the 7th World Congress on Railway Research, Montreal (June 2006).

BENJAMIN FREID

Currently working on M.S. in EE

 

Benjamin Freid is a graduate of the Railroad Engineering program and accepted an Engineering Management Associate position with Amtrak in Philadelphia.  Ben received his BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois in 2001 and later returned to complete his MS in Electrical Engineering in 2007.  Ben combined his education in electrical and computer engineering with his knowledge of railroading to assist with joint research projects between the Railroad Engineering and Machine Vision programs at Illinois.  His primary focus involved the Machine Vision for Passenger Car Undercarriage Inspection Using Multi-Spectral Imaging project.  This Transportation Research Board (TRB)-funded IDEA project researched the design of an inspection system with machine vision algorithms to assist in the undercarriage inspection process in both the visible and infrared light spectra.  This research has the potential to provide mechanical inspection personnel with a tool to automatically assess, monitor, and correlate the physical and thermal condition of components underneath railcars and locomotives before they cause a service disruption.

Freid, B., C.P.L. Barkan, N. Ahuja, J.M. Hart, S. Todorvic, N. Kocher. Multispectral Machine Vision for Improved Undercarriage Inspection of Railroad Rolling Stock. In Proceedings: International Heavy Haul Conference Specialist Technical Session - High Tech in Heavy Haul , Kiruna, Sweden, June 2007, pp. 737-744.

Avery Grimes' research explored the fundamental nature of railroad infrastructure investment using a combination of engineering, economic, and financial theory. It presented a significantly improved method for optimizing transportation resources by defining and correcting the role of investment within the industry. Within the realm of engineering theory, the research explained and estimated efficiency gains from changes in investment based maintenance strategies. Within the realm of economic theory, the research explained the relationship between investment and output and corrects previous assumptions regarding the appropriate role of investment in marginal cost calculations. Within the realm of financial theory, the research identified how inappropriate application of engineering cost theory leads to under-pricing of transportation services from both regulatory and commercial perspectives, resulting in sub-optimal decisions regarding operations and infrastructure investment. In summary, the research provided new techniques for evaluating transportation maintenance strategies, setting appropriate transportation prices, adjusting regulatory controls, and optimizing resources dedicated to railway infrastructure investment.

http://www.omnitrax.com/people_profiles.shtml

Grimes, G.A. and C.P.L. Barkan  2006.  Cost-effectiveness of railway infrastructure renewal maintenance. ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering 132: 601-608.

Travis completed his undergraduate education at the University of Illinois and then later went on to join the Railroad Engineering program as a master's degree student. His research was focused on improving the fuel efficiency and decreasing the emissions impact of railroad freight operations. This work is focused mainly on the application of storage technologies to locomotive dynamic brake systems. His research should help to make railroad operations both more fuel efficient and friendlier to the environment while increasing the flexibility of railroad operations. Travis was also interested in the efficiency aspects of passenger rail systems that are used in urban environments.

Painter, T. and C.P.L. Barkan. Prospects for dynamic brake energy recovery on North American freight locomotives, JRC2006-94051. Proceedings of the ASME Joint Rail Conference, Atlanta , GA   (April 2006)

From Left to Right - Travis Painter, Riley Edwards, Jeremiah Dirnberger,
Yungcheng Lai, Mohd Rapik Saat, Prof. Chris Barkan, and Mike Koob
From Left to Right - Travis Painter, Riley Edwards, Jeremiah Dirnberger,
Yungcheng Lai, Mohd Rapik Saat, Prof. Chris Barkan, and Mike Koob

At the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign Civil and Evironmental Engineering alumni reunion at the 84th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) in Washington, DC in January 2005 alumni reunion at the 84th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) in Washington, DC in January 2005