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

January 11, 2011

Prof. Ukkusuri receives the CUTC New Faculty Award

Congratulations to Prof. Satish Ukkusuri for being awarded the Council of University Transportation Centers New Faculty Award, recognizing outstanding teaching and research contributions to the transportation field by a new tenure track faculty member.
December 22, 2010

CE Alumnus receives CUTC's Pikarsky Award

Congratulations to Dr. Pengcheng Zhang (Ph.D. 2010), recognized by the Council of University Transportation Centers with the Pikarsky Award for best Ph.D. dissertation in science and technology.
July 26, 2010

Purdue, INDOT pioneering green highway projects

Civil engineers at Purdue University and the Indiana Department of Transportation are teaming up on green projects around the state, including work aimed at saving taxpayers $300,000 annually by recycling a waste product from cement manufacturing.
June 30, 2010

Prof. Bullock named JTRP Director

Prof. Darcy Bullock has been named director of the Joint Transportation Research Program, effective July 15th. JTRP collaborates with the Indiana Department of Transportation on research and educational programs.
May 6, 2010

Airport device follows fliers' phones

A recent USA Today article cites research by Prof. Darcy Bullock and his team to help track how long airline passengers are stuck at security checkpoints.
January 25, 2010

Dr. Peeta wins UniSA Distinguished Research Award

Dr. Srinivas Peeta is a recipient of the 2010 UniSA Distinguished Researcher Award from the University of South Australia (UniSA), awarded by the Australian Competitive Grants and Fellowships Development Committee.
October 20, 2009

Prof. Sinha receives the TRB Crum Award

Congratulations to Prof. Kumares Sinha, recipient of the Transportation Research Board's 2009 Roy W. Crum Award. This award recognizes outstanding achievement in transportation research and research management and is the highest honor bestowed by the TRB.
April 21, 2009

Innovative Solution Helps NEXTRANS Model Travel-Time Reliability

Researchers at Purdue University and the NEXTRANS Center are applying cutting-edge technology to develop a model that can accurately measure travel-time reliability. This model may provide a new basis for transportation professionals to monitor the performance and benefits of activities implemented on roadway networks.
March 4, 2009

Stimulus package headline of annual Road School

What the federal government's stimulus package will mean for Indiana roads, how Super Bowl host cities have planned for traffic, and the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway were among the topics discussed March 10-12 at the 95th annual Purdue Road School.
January 16, 2009

Carmel wins bid to host 2011 National Roundabout Conference

The conference is designed to provide a forum for the exchange of technical and administrative information concerning aspects of roundabouts with the goal to inform a large audience about the science and application of roundabouts.
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