News

Six of the NURail CoE partner universities had representatives that attended Rail Research Week on 17-21 November 2025, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. They were:  The theme for the week was “Inspiring innovative and resilient railways.”  NURail CoE’s 27 presentations and seven session chairs were part of the 700 individual peer-reviewed sessions and papers at the… Read more: Good Showing at Rail Research Week

Students and faculty from National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE) partner universities attended the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) 2025 Annual Conference & Expo on 14-17 September at the Indianapolis Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN. One NURail CoE graduate student from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (UIUC), Coleman Froehlke, gave… Read more: 2025 AREMA Conference

The second annual meeting for the National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE) was held on Tuesday 12 August 2025 at the University of Notre Dame. Attendees took the time to review accomplishments from year one, receive an update from each of the CoE Principal Investigators including highlights from the prior year and plans… Read more: NURail CoE Second Annual Meeting

NURail CoE was a Presenting Sponsor at the Principles of Wheel/Rail Interaction course which preceded the 2025 Wheel Rail Interaction (WRI) Heavy Haul (HH) conference on 10-12 June in Kansas City, MO. J. Riley Edwards, NURail CoE consortium member from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, presented a session on “Track Structures and Components” during the… Read more: NURail CoE at WRI

The National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE) published its inaugural annual report detailing the transportation research, education and workforce development, and technology transfer activities and accomplishments of the center from 3 May 2024 – 2 May 2025. Included in the report are spotlights on each of the nine partner universities detailing one of… Read more: Annual Report Now Available

The March edition of Railway Track and Structures (RT&S) magazine features the National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE) in Editor-in-Chief David Lester’s monthly editorial.  In the column, Lester discusses education as a major focus for RT&S and their recent partnership with the Wheel-Rail Interaction Heavy Haul conference. This conference, to be held on… Read more: RT&S Recognizes NURail CoE

The National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE) was well represented at the 104th Annual Transportation Research Board (TRB) meeting in Washington, D.C. on 5-9 January 2025. NURail CoE partners from University of Delaware, Kansas State University, Michigan Technological University, Morgan State University, Rutgers University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Illinois-Chicago, and… Read more: NURail CoE participation strong at TRB

Over 750 students, faculty and industry professionals (both in person and online) attended the six William W. Hay Railroad Engineering Seminars throughout the Fall 2024 semester. These seminars were sponsored by the National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE) and the University of Illinois Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC).  The initial presentation of… Read more: Fall 2024 Hay Railroad Engineering Seminars

The University of Delaware, one of the nine university partners in the National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE), a federally funded consortium led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, hosted the Big Data Conference on December 11-12, in Newark, Delaware. Approximately 160 guests — which included representatives from the Federal Railroad Administration,… Read more: NURail CoE partners present research at University of Delaware’s Big Data Conference

National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE) partner Professor Allan Zarembski from the University of Delaware (UD) recently received a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) grant for $14.5 million through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program. UD’s plan includes funding for projects that develop safety programs, workforce development and training. While UD… Read more: NURail Partners Receive CRISI Grant

Dr. Quang Tran, an assistant professor at Michigan Technological University (MTU) and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign alumni, visited with RailTEC students Neeraj Thakur, Coleman Froehlke and Alex Roskov and Assistant Professor J. Riley Edwards this week on UIUC’s campus. The group discussed shared research interests, and Tran also presented the research work his team… Read more: Michigan Tech Professor Tran shares research work with UIUC’s RailTEC students

Representatives from three National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE) partner universities presented research at the 2024 Railroad Environmental Conference (RREC), including Michigan Technological University (MTU), Morgan State University (MSU), and University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). The 26th RREC was a two-day event on 29-30 October at the I-Hotel and Illinois Conference… Read more: NURail CoE at RREC 2024

Since its ribbon cutting ceremony five months ago the National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE) is off to a strong start. University partners have submitted Internal RFPs for projects with Fall 2024 start dates that are in line with the scope of the NURail CoE and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) objectives. Each… Read more: Progress Update

National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE) students and faculty attended the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) 2024 Annual Conference & Expo on 15-18 September at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville. In addition to attending conference sessions, NURail CoE had a booth in the exhibit hall where NURail CoE students were… Read more: NURail CoE at AREMA 2024

Michigan Technological University (MTU) hosted the first National University Rail Center of Excellence (NURail CoE) annual meeting on 13 August 2024 in conjunction with the Michigan Rail Conference (MRC). At the meeting, representatives from each of the nine NURail CoE partner universities discussed their plans and projects through their partnership with the Center. Federal Railroad… Read more: First NURail CoE Annual Meeting

Federal and state dignitaries, including Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Amit Bose, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski, Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Omer Osman, and University of Illinois officials attended the ribbon-cutting event. The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign officially kicked off the University-led National University Rail Center… Read more: USDOT-funded NURail Center of Excellence to advance ‘future of rail transportation’

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has awarded the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) as the lead institution for the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Rail Research and Development Center of Excellence program. U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13) made the announcement. This… Read more: $5M FRA Grant Establishes the National University Rail Center of Excellence