Abstract

 Transportation systems serve as the underpinning of a country’s socio-economic structure. Profound changes have taken place over the past half century in how we live, go to work, do shopping, spend leisure hours, and ship and receive   our goods and products, all influenced by the evolution in our  transportation sector. The process of transformation still continues. We are at the cusp of a much larger reorientation as we embark upon autonomous transportation. Transportation is a relatively new sub-discipline within civil engineering and the colloquium will trace my journey over five decades, in parallel with the development of this field.  My emphasis has shifted periodically, from traffic engineering to transportation planning, urban and regional systems modelling, mass transportation operations, highway infrastructure systems management, transportation financing and policy analysis, and now on to impacts of emerging technologies.   I will talk about some of my pedagogical efforts, research I have done, students and colleagues I have worked with, initiatives I have taken to enhance the field through my work in professional societies, and my work in developing countries.  I will conclude with a set of morals I have drawn from my experiences. I want to offer them to my young colleagues to consider as they begin their own journeys.

Biography

Kumares C. Sinha has been engaged in research, education and practice of transportation engineering for about five decades. After receiving his PhD from the University of Connecticut in 1968, he was on the faculty of Marquette University for six years before coming to Purdue in 1974. He was the Head of the Transportation and Infrastructure Systems Area in the School of Civil Engineering at Purdue during 1981-2001 and served as the Director of the Joint Transportation Research Program of Purdue University and Indiana Department of Transportation during 1995-2010. He was  a Visiting Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Fall, 1980 and at Indian Institute of Technology-Roorkee in Spring, 1981. He was an Eminent Scholar in Residence at Texas A&M University during 2015-2017 and Lockheed Martin Visiting Professor of Engineering at University of Central Florida during 2016-2017. While his research contributions have covered a wide range of areas, he is particularly recognized for pioneering integrated highway asset management systems to determine optimally the timing and the extent of maintenance and preservation of pavements, bridges and other facilities on a life cycle basis.  He has authored or co-authored over 450 technical publications including a book, Transportation Decision Making: Principles of Project Development and Programming, published by John Wiley & Sons.  He has mentored numerous students worldwide.

Sinha is a Registered Professional Engineer and he has been a consultant for the World Bank on transportation and infrastructure issues. He has served as the President of the Transportation & Development Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), President of the Research and Education Division of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), President of the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) and as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Road Federation (IRF), the Oversight Committee of the 2^nd Strategic Highway Research Project (SHRP2), the Federal Advisory Council for the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), and the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies. He is currently on the editorial board of five journals including the Journal of Transportation Engineering (Editor-in-Chief Emeritus) and he serves on the Federal Highway Administration Advisory Committee on Long Term Infrastructure Performance.

Sinha’s honors include  the Lifetime Achievement Award (Inaugural) of the International Society for Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Transport Infrastructures (2016), the ASCE James Laurie Prize (2011), the TRB Roy W. Crum Award (2009), the Award for Distinguished Contribution to University Transportation Education and Research given by the CUTC (2005), the Honorary Membership of the ASCE (2005), the Wilbur S. Smith Distinguished Transportation Educator Award (2002) given jointly by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and several other professional organizations, the ASCE Francis C. Turner Lecture Award (2001), the ARTBA Steinberg Award (2000), the ASCE Harland Bartholomew Award (1996), the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award of the University of Connecticut (1995), the ASCE Arthur Wellington Prize (1992), the ASCE Frank M. Masters Award (1986) and the Fred Burggraf Award of the TRB (1972). He was recognized as a National Associate of the National Academies in 2005 for his involvement in numerous committees and panels of the National Research Council.  He was elected a Member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2008.