The Center will focus its research efforts on improving the durability and extending the life of Standard Federal Region #1 transportation infrastructure through an integrated collaboration of universities, State DOTs and industry. Throughout the five-year program, more than 28 faculty and 280 student researchers for 6 New England universities will participate: the University of Maine (lead), University of Connecticut, University of Rhode Island, University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML), University of Vermont, and Western New England University.
All research projects conducted by the faculty and student researchers in the TIDC are driven by practical needs advised by state DOT engineers from five New England states including Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The TIDC will serve to strengthen and augment State DOTs research programs as well as national research efforts. The research motive is to help DOTs extend the life of existing infrastructure as well as construct new, longer-lasting assets.
This project is funded by the U. S. Department of Transportation (DOT) University Transportation Center (UTC) in collaboration with UMaine, UCONN, URI, UVM, and WENU from 2018 to 2023. The TIDC team at UMass Lowell is led by Tzuyang Yu (Center Director at UMass Lowell, Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering).
The workforce of UTC at UMass Lowell is currently dedicated to two research thrusts:
- Thrust 1: Transportation Infrastructure Monitoring and Assessment for Enhanced Life and
- Thrust 3: New Systems for Longevity and Constructability.
Faculty and student researchers from Civil and Environmental Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mechanical & Industrial Engineering at UMass Lowell are working closely with our project champions from state DOTs as a team in order to achieve project goals and to develop practical solutions for the durability-related problems in our transportation infrastructure.