University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Grainger College of Engineering
Illinois Center for Transportation

Driving change: Kohler joins ICT

4/23/2023 Kent Reel

 

Erwin Kohler joined Illinois Center for Transportation’s team as assistant director for research in April.

Kohler’s duties involve raising awareness about the Illinois Autonomous and Connected Track as well as bringing in funding and potential contributors.

Kohler is thrilled to contribute to improving transportation infrastructure by working on tomorrow’s problems and finding solutions to tackle transportation issues.

“I’m excited to contribute to improving transportation infrastructure, not only by working on today’s problems, but also on those that are coming,” Kohler said. “Helping to solve transportation issues is especially rewarding because better mobility brings social benefits. And I love doing this at the University of Illinois, a place that I know, with a fantastic team.”

His goal is to have connected and autonomous vehicles rolling at ICT as soon as possible.

Kohler earned his bachelor’s and master’s in Chile and his doctorate from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign — all in civil engineering.

As a doctoral student at UIUC, Kohler worked at the ICT building and used the Accelerated Transportation Loading Assembly to help the Illinois Department of Transportation make design decisions for the reconstruction of the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago.

Before joining ICT, Kohler ran a pavement engineering consulting firm that he started in Chile. The firm carries out small projects in various countries worldwide. He also worked in research for five years as a research assistant and postdoctoral researcher at UIUC as well as a project scientist at the University of California Pavement Research Center in Davis and Berkeley.

Outside of work, Kohler enjoys fixing things around the house as a relaxing hobby and learning about languages and places. In his first week at ICT, he hit the ground running, joining the Champaign County First program and traveling to Washington, DC, where he met with Illinois Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, along with House representatives from the three electoral districts and officials from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Erwin Kohler and Bob Flider, Director, Community & Government Relations at U of I, on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
Erwin Kohler, left, with Robert Flider, director of Community and Government Relations of the University of Illinois, on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building during his recent visit to Washington, DC to promote I-ACT.