New ICT staffers eager to share leading transportation research

If you would have told Emily Jankauski and Brian Lorbiecki two months ago that they would assist with leading transportation research efforts, they probably wouldn’t have believed you. 

Meet Emily Jankauski and Brian Lorbiecki, Illinois Center for Transportation’s newest staff members.

“I am so excited to be here,” said Jankauski, who has a master’s in communication from the University of Illinois Springfield and a bachelor’s in intercultural studies from Lincoln Christian University.

Jankauski, an Athens, Illinois native who now lives in Mahomet, joins the communications team as an outreach coordinator, where she will assist in promoting ICT’s research efforts to the public along with writing articles for the quarterly newsletter.

But that isn’t all she hopes to accomplish.

“I’d like to revitalize communication efforts, whether that’s podcasts, social media posts, or even website or YouTube videos,” she said. “We’ll have to see.”

Lorbiecki, who has a bachelor’s in general studies from Eastern Illinois University, joins ICT as a research projects coordinator. Here he will assist in coordinating, facilitating, and monitoring research efforts and ensure ICT fulfills all requirements of the Illinois Department of Transportation grant agreement.

“I’m very happy to be with the university (University of Illinois) and in a job that’s not necessarily doing research but tied to research that’s going on,” Lorbiecki said. “It’s always been kind of a fascination for me.”

There’s one thing Jankauski and Lorbiecki have in common – publishing.

Jankauski is fresh out of Champaign’s newsroom at News-Gazette Media, Inc., where she served as the editor of a weekly newspaper, The Mahomet Citizen.

Her favorite part?

“Featuring members of the Mahomet-Seymour community,” she said. “I learned so much just from the stories people shared with me, especially those feel-good moments like recognizing a kidney donor or a crossing guard.”

Jankauski hopes to transfer those efforts by sharing the inspiring research conducted at ICT.

“There’s so much great work happening here,” she said. “From testing pavements to proposing autonomous vehicle research that has the potential to help the elderly, individuals with disabilities, and even commercial freight, there’s never a dull moment.”

Lorbiecki on the other hand is coming off an 11-year stint with Human Kinetics Publishers. Here he began a career in internal tech support, but for the last three years he’s been a project lead.

One of Lorbiecki’s major projects included incorporating a vendor to help the human resources department with payroll and time-reporting systems, such as vacation.

But now, Lorbiecki, who previously dreamed of being a meteorologist, has 21 (ICT-IDOT) research projects on his plate to oversee, and he couldn’t be more excited about it.

“I’m going to be getting to know those intimately soon,” he said.

While both are new to ICT, Lorbiecki, who hails from Theresa, Wisconsin but now calls Tolono home , is by no means a stranger to Rantoul.

In 1996, Lorbiecki found himself working for Ameritech Cellular, now AT&T, at the former Chanute Air Force Base in the old Air Traffic Control Building.

In his spare time, Lorbiecki is a head coach for his son’s little league baseball team.

“My son’s moving up to the next division now, so I’m learning the ins and outs,” he said.

Jankauski tries to spend as much of her free time doting on her three nieces and one nephew along with her two “furbabies,” she said.

But if one thing is for certain, both are bursting at the seams to get their careers started at ICT.

“My background is in the sciences,” Lorbiecki said. “But the different jobs that I’ve had haven’t really been like a career. This feels like a career path type move for me. I’m excited to be in a position where we’re working with research.”

Jankauski couldn’t agree more.

“I look forward to thinking outside of the box with ways to share the amazing research being done here,” she said. “I’m excited to share how students are not only making headway in the University of Illinois’ civil and environmental engineering community, but also how their efforts will make a positive impact in the Village of Rantoul, the state of Illinois, and beyond.”