Page 23 - Penn State Civil and Environmental Engineering Magazine

LARSON TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE NEWS
During the 60th annual Pennsylvania APA Conference on Jan. 21, 2020, Zachariah Abbas (center) was presented with a trophy for the top prize for the Inaugural Northeast Regional Council Mix Competition. Abbas was joined by (left to right) Bruce Barkevich, vice president of the New York Construction Materials Association, Gary Hoffman, technical director of the Pennsylvania Asphalt Paving Association, Mansour Solaimanian, director of the Northeast Center of Excellence for Pavement Technology, and Charlie Goodhart, executive director of the Pennsylvania Asphalt Paving Association.
Low-volume roads researcher appointed to Transportation Research Board committee
By Danica Laub
Eric Chase, a researcher with the Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute’s Center
for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies (CDGRS), has been appointed to the Standing Committee on Low-Volume Roads (AFB30), as selected by the Transportation Research Board (TRB). He will serve on the TRB committee from April 15, 2020, through April 14, 2023.
“At the CDGRS, we focus exclusively on education, outreach, and research related to low-volume roads,”
Chase said. “My research focuses on sediment and dust generation from unpaved low-volume roads, which aligns perfectly with the focus of the committee.”
Chase has partnered with numerous outside organizations through the years, including the United States Forest Service, Susquehanna River Basin Commission, United States Geological Survey, and Trout Unlimited. His research has explored an array of topics, including the use of roadside ditches to treat farm field runoff and the effectiveness of driving surface aggregate for use on federal lands.
Currently, Chase’s research focuses on emerging road issues such as the
environmental and health impacts
of spreading oil- and gas-produced waters on roads. In collaboration
with faculty members in the Penn State Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Chase
has been exploring water treatment methods and their effectiveness
for dust suppression—a laboratory method which was ultimately accepted for publication by the TRB.
Chase became involved with the TRB in 2015, when the CDGRS served as the local host for the 11th International Conference on Low-Volume Roads, held in Pittsburgh. However, the recent appointment to the TRB Standing Committee is a first for Chase.
“I’m fairly new to the study of low- volume roads and am looking forward to learning from committee members who have spent their careers studying and researching them,” Chase said.
“I hope to gain new connections
and new perspective on low-volume roads throughout the country and around the world. I also hope to bring our 20 years of experience here in Pennsylvania to other practitioners.”
To view a list of Penn State employees serving as TRB committee members or affiliates, visit the online directory.
Faculty affiliate appointed to Transportation Research Board committees
By Danica Laub
Rajesh Paleti, a Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute faculty affiliate and assistant professor of civil
and environmental engineering, has been appointed to serve on two committees— Statistical Methods (ABJ80) and Travel Behavior and Values (ADB10)—by the Transportation Research Board (TRB). He will serve on the TRB committees from April 15, 2020, through April 14, 2023.
“My research primarily focuses on developing novel statistical methods to understand travel behavior, so my work naturally aligns with these two committees,” Paleti said. “The statistics committee concentrates on the application of statistical methods in the field of transportation, whereas the travel behavior and values committee focuses on research related to traveler attitudes, values, and behavior.”
While serving on the committees, Paleti
will help foster innovative research in the transportation community by soliciting calls for papers on emerging research themes, reviewing submissions for the annual TRB conference, and organizing special workshops or conferences.
Paleti became involved with the TRB as
a student in 2009, when he attended the annual TRB meeting in Washington, D.C. He has been actively involved in presenting his research ever since. Over the years, Paleti began attending TRB sub-committee and committee meetings as a “friend”—one of the ways the TRB encourages individuals to register on the website—to learn more about current and future trends in transportation. Prior to his two most recent appointments, Paleti served on the TRB’s Special Committee for Travel Forecasting Resources.
In his new roles, Paleti looks forward to working in a collaborative environment with leaders in transportation research and practice from around the world.
“Some of the members are senior professors who inspired me to join academia,” Paleti said. “I look forward to working alongside them as their colleague on leading transportation questions facing the nation.”
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