Twenty years ago, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign launched a bold experiment: What if transportation research could move from the lab to the lane, faster and with more impact? 

In 2005, the university, supported by the Illinois Department of Transportation, established the Illinois Center for Transportation, with Imad Al-Qadi as founding director. It began in repurposed U.S. Air Force facilities and quickly became, and remains, a place where laboratory breakthroughs become field specifications and policy.

The experiment and the mission endure: Move first-rate science into practice and measure outcomes in safety, performance, value for taxpayers and impact on the environment.

Now in its 20th year, ICT operates as one of the nation’s leading transportation research hubs. Since its founding, the center has worked closely with IDOT through more than $153 million in funding, launched 374 research projects and supported 752 students while collaborating with 47 universities, more than 30 public- and private-sector agencies, and international partners.

ICT has also secured significant additional funding working with the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Energy, and numerous other agencies and industries. ICT draws a global cohort of high-caliber students who carry the work into agencies, industry and academia in the United States and abroad.

“The success of ICT is driven by its exceptional staff, dedicated engineers and researchers, and talented students who continuously innovate to advance the safety and resiliency of our multimodal transportation systems,” said Al-Qadi, ICT director and Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering.

Expanding ICT: From Air Force Base to Research Center

A decade before ICT’s founding the university acquired land at the former Chanute Air Force Base to build ATREL — the Advanced Transportation Research and Engineering Laboratory — creating the testing ground ICT would later expand.

In its early years, ICT invested about $1.5 million to build a world-class foundation of equipment, shortening the path from experiment to field trial. Over the last 10 years, the center added another $1.8 million in lab upgrades and more than $500,000 in sustainability and infrastructure improvements to reduce energy usage and approach its goal of net-zero operations.

The Materials Processing Facility — an Air Force‑era addition dating to the mid‑1950s — received major technical upgrades in 2014 and again in 2022. Engineers modernized controls and sensors and added the ability to operate dual hydraulic actuators from a unified system, expanding the loading patterns and instrumented tests researchers can run. They also brought a workhorse experiment to the fore: an 8‑by‑16‑by‑1‑foot large soil bed, a configurable platform for testing construction materials and sections.

The Research and Engineering Laboratory at ICT features a climate-controlled, glass-walled servo-hydraulic lab completed in 2018. Four high-capacity testing frames, integrated through a single control and data-acquisition platform, give researchers a seamless environment for training and experimentation. For visitors, the room doubles as a transparent classroom — allowing them to watch Illinois pavement science at work.

Central to ICT’s work since its inception is the Illinois Accelerated Pavement Tester, shaped by CEE Emeritus Professor Barry Dempsey. I-APT can compress decades of wear into just a few months of testing so designs can be proven before they reach the field.

A $1.5 million modernization brought I-APT up to today’s standards. The upgrade added tandem-axle loading, braking and acceleration simulation, and ±6 degrees of yaw, along with an 85-foot test span, under-machine clearance for full-depth structures, a controlled environmental enclosure, and the capacity to apply wheel loads of up to 35 kips.

Partnering with IDOT: Turning Research into Practice

At the heart of ICT’s success is its enduring partnership with IDOT since 2005. In addition to many sponsored projects, ICT typically manages 40 to 60 IDOT projects each year and has completed more than 335 under the IDOT program. In 2024 they signed a six‑year, $48 million agreement to continue the program.

“Although the IDOT-UIUC relationship goes back to 1947, IDOT and ICT have developed a great and unique partnership over the past two decades,” Al‑Qadi said. “We’re working together on many exciting projects to advance mobility.”

The process — project selection, milestone checks and regular exchanges between researchers and IDOT engineers — keeps research aimed squarely at implementation. ICT administers IDOT’s research program, a rare model among U.S. Department of Transportation and university partnerships. This structure emphasizes schedule discipline, budget transparency and a continuous feedback loop between researchers and agency engineers to keep projects on track toward implementable results.

Recent project outcomes show how research becomes practice. They have modernized pavement design methods to improve performance predictions and reduce premature repairs by considering the impacts of electrical vehicles and trucks. Their work on energy harvesting supports a focus on generating renewable energy. Optimizing drone delivery prepares for the future of supply chain and freight logistics. Sustainability studies have guided IDOT’s use of reclaimed and recycled materials. Other studies have informed IDOT’s approval of alternative noise‑barrier materials, advanced hydraulic flood‑frequency estimates to improve bridge and culvert design, and updated foundation and base guidance to increase durability. A specially designed mount for ground-penetrating radar on paving rollers is considered a distribution for measuring real-time density of pavement during construction.

Engaging Federal and National Research: Extending Reach

ICT also advances a portfolio of federally and nationally sponsored research with university and national-laboratory partners. As a core collaborator in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Center for Connected and Automated Transportation, ICT contributes to connected and automated mobility and infrastructure resilience.

Recent U.S. Department of Energy support backs modeling for low-carbon, resilient intermodal freight and energy systems, while a multi-year collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory is developing energy-efficient automated driving controls for on-road testing. Additional work has focused on truck-platooning frameworks and life-cycle assessment tools. Past and current sponsors include the Federal Highway Administration, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, the National Science Foundation, the Federal Aviation Administration and industry partners.

Advancing Training and Outreach: Building the Workforce

ICT’s mission includes empowering the people who plan, build and operate transportation systems. Each year, the center certifies more than 1,000 professionals in documentation of contract quantities and nearly 500 in erosion and sediment control practices.

In addition to workshops, ICT’s Illinois Bituminous Paving Conference has connected researchers, industry and agencies for decades, while the Kent Seminar Series brings leading voices in transportation to campus and online audiences worldwide. The programs don’t just share knowledge — they equip the workforce and shape careers.

Shaping the Next Decade: Defining the Future

ICT’s most ambitious expansion is the planned Illinois Autonomous and Connected Track. I‑ACT is envisioned as a net‑zero‑energy, high‑speed test track with simulated environments and all‑weather conditions across urban, suburban and rural settings. To build the track, ICT has created a consortium of federal, state and industry partners — positioning Illinois to be a national and global leader in innovation, development, verification and testing in connected, automated and electrified mobility.

“With advances in 5G communications, drone technology and energy harvesting, I‑ACT is positioned to lead real‑world testing of smart, autonomous and multimodal transportation that improves safety, efficiency and sustainability,” Al‑Qadi said.

ICT’s 2024 addition, the Smart Mobility Laboratory, advances research on connected and autonomous vehicles, sensor-based systems and real-world algorithms. Working in tandem with I-ACT, it will accelerate innovations from concept to deployment.

ICT’s lab upgrades let the center tackle larger questions such as how systems behave at scale, how infrastructure and vehicles interact and how to design for resilience in a changing climate, while reducing energy use, cutting waste and moving steadily toward net-zero operations in ways others can adopt.

Twenty years in, ICT is picking up speed and preparing to tackle tomorrow’s challenges with the same guiding principle since day one: turning research into real-world solutions.