Al-Qadi named Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering

 

Imad Al-Qadi, Illinois Center for Transportation director and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor, has been named Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering.

Al-Qadi has served as a faculty member, Founder Professor of Engineering and Bliss Professor of Engineering at UIUC’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering since 2004.

As a CEE faculty member, Al-Qadi has advanced the field of transportation engineering through research, professional service and teaching.

His research focuses on building resilient and sustainable airfield and highway pavements, advanced modeling for highways and airfields, life-cycle cost analysis and environmental assessment of pavement, autonomous and connected vehicles, and truck platoons.

He and his students have pioneered the use of ground-penetrating radar — a real-time, nondestructive test that sends electromagnetic waves into pavement surfaces.

He has also led the development of models for tire-pavement interactions, life-cycle assessment and pavement-preservation tools, and truck platoons, to name a few. His research has led to the development of new tests and AASHTO testing specifications, such as the Illinois Flexibility Index Test.

Al-Qadi’s work also includes forensic engineering of major international airports in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and he led the design, installation and analysis of the first instrumented European airport in Italy as well as the Virginia Smart Road.

For Al-Qadi, his greatest success doesn’t lie in his achievements, but in those of his students.

Al-Qadi has mentored over 50 doctoral students and 40 postdoctoral researchers as well as many master’s students, many of whom have gone on to become leaders in the transportation field, successful company owners, agency leaders and top scholars.

“It is a great honor to be a part of world-class, innovative research at the Grainger College of Engineering,” Al-Qadi said. “But it is an even greater honor to work with our students firsthand and witness their accomplishments.”

As founding director of CEE’s Illinois Center for Transportation since 2005, Al-Qadi is focusing on addressing the urgent and evolving transportation needs of the state of Illinois, the country and the world.

Key to this goal is his leadership in building the Illinois Autonomous and Connected Track — a high-speed, multimodal test track — in Rantoul, Illinois.

I-ACT is poised to lead the rapidly evolving mobility industry through real-world development and testing of connected, autonomous, and multimodal transport.

The proposed track, which has completed conceptualization, will bring together various academic institutions, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and key private industries.

“I’m honored to have been selected to represent the excellence that Grainger College of Engineering represents,” Al-Qadi said. “I credit this achievement to my hardworking friends, colleagues and students who have helped me in my career. I accept this honor on their behalf.”