Sazzadul Saykat and Caleb Napper each grab a side of the large mixing bowl filled with concrete and carry it across the lab floor to pour into a funnel. As the concrete mix gradually seeps into the center of a circle drawn on the ground, the graduate students measure the rate of the flow and […]
News
Kevin Heaslip, Director of CTR, Gives Expert Opinion on Baltimore Bridge Collapse
CGTN’s Asieh Namdar speaks to Kevin Heaslip, Director of the Center for Transportation Research, about the ship losing power and issuing a mayday before crash. Watch the video here
CEE Faculty and Students Present at TRB Annual Meeting Conference
The 2024 TRB Annual Meeting took place from January 7–11. Transportation administrators, practitioners, policy makers, and researchers all came to DC to participate in more than 600 workshops, lectern sessions, committee sessions, and poster sessions. There were also more than 200 exhibitors who joined in on the event. The following UT CEE faculty and students […]
Transportation expert Kevin Heaslip: Bridges are not built to withstand cargo ship collisions
Following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, Kevin Heaslip, director for the Center for Transportation Research, spoke with NBC News’ Joe Fryer about why the bridge collapsed and how the cargo ship brought down the massive structure. Watch the video here
From Bike Lanes to Freight Trains, CA Secretary of Transportation Toks Omishakin (’22) Thinks in Connections
In February of 2022, as the country was still recovering from the supply chain shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic, California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Toks Omishakin as the state’s fourth Secretary of Transportation. That May, Omishakin helped strike down a decades-old plan to widen the 710 Freeway, one of the country’s busiest freight corridors—and defended […]
Bai leads $5M Grant from DOE-VTO to Produce Smaller, More Efficient Motor Drive Systems for Electric Vehicles
Kevin Bai, associate professor in the Min H. Kao Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), shares a principle-investigator role in a collaboration with the ABB Group’s US Research Center to develop an integrated, compact drive inverter and motor for electric vehicles that would reduce both the size and cost of electric drive trains. Bai’s proposed […]
EVs are heavier than gas cars, but are they harder on roads?
Alberta wants EV owners to pull their own weight when it comes to paying for road maintenance – but battery-electric passenger vehicles, while considerably heavier than their gas-powered counterparts, are far from the heaviest vehicles on the road, experts said. “For pavement, the biggest cause of damage is large transport trucks,” Kevin Heaslip, director of […]
E-bike incentives are a costly way to cut carbon emissions, but they also promote health, equity and cleaner air
E-bikes have captured widespread attention across the U.S., and for good reason. They are the most energy-efficient way to move from place to place, providing exercise in the process, and offer enough assistance while pedaling uphill or into headwinds to make them usable for many types of riders. Greenhouse gas emissions from e-bikes are much […]
Heavier vehicles on U.S. roadways putting strain on guardrails during crashes, study finds
A new study has highlighted a concerning safety issue. As the vehicles on the roadways in the United States have gotten heavier, the guardrails are not functioning as well when there is a crash. NBC News’ Kathy Park has more on what researchers found. Watch the video here.
Deb Crawford discusses foundation for success at TEAM TN Summit
Day one of the event is in the books after presentations and “asks” from several speakers. Now, the hard work begins. Deb Crawford clearly outlined the opportunities and challenges that a group of more than 100 partners is trying to address under the auspices of the TEAM TN umbrella. Speaking Tuesday morning at the start […]
Hightower, Whitehouse Awarded Prestigious Eisenhower Fellowships
UT graduate students Ashley Hightower and Grace Whitehouse both received prestigious Eisenhower fellowship grants to help fund their research in the transportation field. Hightower received the maximum amount awarded. Read the full article here
How Tennessee can become a hub for transportation innovation
Tennessee currently supports 40 percent of the EV manufacturing jobs and investments in the southeast, but ranks 41st in the country for industrial R&D. As transportation evolves, and the focus on car travel shifts from the combustion engine to the electric battery, Tennessee is already a key player in the world of manufacturing. Ford, GM, […]
People, partnerships and place: UT’s committed to drive the innovation economy | Opinion
Tennessee is poised to become the next great hub of American innovation. Home to one of the most prominent national labs, multiple top-tier research universities, a growing workforce and enviable geography, the Volunteer State is positioned to drive innovation that will change the world. At the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, we are ready to help […]
Paid ‘choice lanes’ could be built on Tennessee interstates. Here’s what that means
Traffic is a nightmare no matter where you go and now Tennessee lawmakers want to help alleviate some of the stress that comes with commuting. A bill called the Transportation Modernization Act passed the state senate and is now headed to the House. The bill includes “choice lanes” which are lanes designed to reduce traffic […]
600 miles on a single charge? How Tennessee could shape the future of electric vehicles
Electric vehicles, now the choice for the environmentally minded, could be become the standard for everyone if Tennessee succeeds in an ambitious goal to engineer fast-charging alternatives to fossil fuel-burning vehicles that spew 27% of America’s greenhouse gases. The University of Tennessee at Knoxville is at the helm of a statewide coalition leveraging expertise in […]
Q&A with RIA’s David Clarke: Decarbonisation in rail
Can you give us an overview of what you and the RIA are doing here at Railtex?At the practical level, the Railway Industry Association (RIA) is at Railtex for the future focus conference and the innovation village. At the strategic level, we’re here to support our members who are exhibiting to raise the profile of […]
Carry that weight? Electric vehicles outweigh gas cars but aren’t main culprit of road wear
Batteries make EVs heavier than gas-powered vehiclesCivil and environmental engineering professor Kevin Heaslip, director of the University of Tennessee’s Center for Transportation Research, said EVs often weigh 30% more than gas-powered vehicles. The main reason is the weight of their batteries, which can add hundreds of pounds or more. Experts said EVs’ additional weight has […]
Nashville’s Ride Ecosystem
For Nashvillians who don’t have a car or don’t want to drive to an event, rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft are popular options. But just a decade ago, these options didn’t exist. Taxis were the best option back then, and are still around. But one of these systems is regulated by the city, and […]
Montana Train Derailment Report Renews Calls for Automated Systems to Detect Track Problems
Federal investigators renewed their recommendation that major freight railroads equip every locomotive with the kind of autonomous sensors that could have caught the track flaws that caused a fatal 2021 Amtrak derailment in northern Montana. But installing the sensors on the tens of thousands of locomotives in the fleet could be cost prohibitive, and it’s […]
Bridge collapses, road repairs, evacuations: How transportation agencies plan for large-scale traffic disruptions
Twelve days after a portion of Interstate 95 collapsed in north Philadelphia during a truck fire, officials opened a temporary six-lane roadway to serve motorists while a permanent overpass is rebuilt. This was a major success after the June 11, 2023, disaster was predicted to snarl traffic for months. U.S. cities often face similar challenges […]
Will Knox County get choice lanes to fix traffic congestion on busy Interstate 40?
Knox County, home to some of the most congested roads in Tennessee, has traffic and infrastructure issues that will take a generation to solve. “You can choose any high schooler, and they would be a senior citizen by the time we address just the current projects on the list,” said state Sen. Becky Duncan Massey, […]
‘A lot of misconceptions’ | Organizer of electric vehicle summit at UT hopes to address concerns about the tech
“I think the state of Tennessee has been really proactive in the promotion of electric vehicles and one of the reasons for that is, first of all, I think our ecosystem between UT and Oak Ridge National Lab that we have here in East Tennessee,” said Kevin Heaslip, the director of the Center for Transportation […]
Powering the Future for Mobility
Longer-lasting batteries and lighter-weight vehicles. Wireless charging stations and sustainable materials. More efficient supply chains and more effective public policy. UT researchers are at the forefront of the technology and societal forces that are revolutionizing transportation here in the United States and around the world. By bringing together the university’s deep bench of expertise, the […]
More than 180 UT Faculty Members Among World’s Top 2% of Cited Scientists
Stanford University’s annual list of the top 2% of scientists cited by other researchers around the world was recently released, and this year’s version includes 183 faculty members from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, including the UT Institute of Agriculture. The database includes almost 205,000 scientists, engineers and mathematicians worldwide whose work has been most […]
UT to lead $10M University Transportation Center
The U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT) has announced that the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will lead a multi-institutional University Transportation Center (UTC) designed to improve the mobility of people and goods across the country.
Good News for City and County Employees
TTAP has good news for local government employees! As we start 2023, most TTAP online workshops are now free to employees of any city, town, or county (including townships, villages, boroughs, and parishes for our friends in other states and provinces). This expanded offer of free training is made possible by the support we receive from our sponsors at the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.
UT Commits $50 Million to Transdisciplinary Cluster Hires
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is committing $50 million over the next five years to recruit 44 top-tier research faculty members across multiple disciplines to address some of the most pressing and complex challenges of our time. It is the largest faculty hiring initiative in recent UT history.