Railway Technologies Laboratory earns place on Dept of Transportation $ 7.11 million Rail Research University Transportation Center
The U . S . Department of Transportation in December announced $ 300 million for grants to be associated with Tier-1 University Transportation Centers . The UTCs were given to consortia of colleges and universities across the country to advance the state-of-the-art in transportation research and technology . Virginia Tech is a key member of the only Rail Research UTC in the nation , along with the University of Delaware and the University of Nevada , Las Vegas which is the UTC lead .
The total grant of $ 7.11 million is spread across the three universities over five years , with Virginia Tech receiving $ 1.9 million over the period . Taking the helm for Virginia Tech is Mehdi Ahmadian , Dan Pletta Professor and Director , Railway Technologies Laboratory ( RTL ); one of only three university labs in the nation recognized as the Association of American Railroads ( AAR ) Affiliated laboratories . The AAR-Affiliated labs , selected on competitive basis in recognition of their strong research in rail transportation , are tasked with conducting studies that can advance the state of engineering and operational safety of the U . S . railroads . RTL has been recognized as one of the three AAR-Affiliated labs for the past 12 years
At left , Mehdi Ahmadian , the Dan Pletta Professor and Director of the Railway Technologies Laboratory , works with Senior Research Scientist Andrew Peterson on the RTL ' s one-of-a-kind roller rig . The rig , which was designed and built in-house , tests the wheel / track interface and will be used as part of the data collection involved with the Tier-1 UTC looking at rail infrastructure .
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