The University of Nebraska-Lincoln serves as headquarters and lead institution for the Mid-America Transportation Center, a consortium that focuses on safe, efficient and effective transportation in the four-state region of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. Rural roadways, urban traffic and major freight corridors are among the issues studied.
Nebraska also is home to the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility, a research center that focuses on highway design and safety. That facility developed barriers in use at NASCAR race tracks and roadside barriers in use on highways across the U.S. As electric vehicles gain greater adoption, engineers at the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility now are working to design roadside barriers for EVS. The facility recently was awarded a grant from the Department of Defense to develop barriers to protect military bases from ramming by vehicles.
Bio
Ronald Faller, director and research professor with the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility, is an expert on guardrails, buttresses, concrete barriers and other roadside safety hardware, motorsports safety, work-zone safety signs, and other highway safety devices. He has had nearly 90 peer-reviewed journal publications, with 8 Best Paper awards from the Transportation Research Board and the Kenneth A. Stone Roadside Safety Award. In 2021, he was honored as the Premier S. Paul Innovator of the Year. Updated 12/15/23
Bio
Cody Stolle, a research assistant professor, has worked closely with the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility for 19 years. He is an expert in computer simulation modeling, vehicle dynamics, impact analysis, roadside barrier design, energy-absorbing systems and crash data analysis. His research includes prediction of vehicle movements, reactions, and timing, developing and calibrating multiple vehicle models, performing launch and stability analysis, and refining engine power models. Stolle has an extensive history conducting full-scale and component testing, as well as analyzing data and developing recommendations regarding vehicle dynamics, such as tire-pavement friction, steering capabilities in near-swerve conditions, launching and rollover analysis, trajectory prediction, material classification, multi-axial loading, and barrier crashworthiness. In addition, Stolle has evaluated mechanisms for triggering occupant protection systems such as airbags, onboard accelerometers, and seat belt pretensioners, as well as critical vehicle damage and deformations to evaluate crush factors for energy analysis. Updated 12/15/23
Bio
[Aemal Khattak](https://engineering.unl.edu/civil/aemal-khattak/, director of the Mid-America Transportation Center, is an expert in transportation safety, transportation infrastructure planning, intelligent transportation systems and community outreach. He teaches courses in highway engineering, highway safety data analysis, urban transportation planning, among others. His most recent publications include a study of drivers’ knowledge about safely traversing railroad grade crossings and hazardous materials transportation by train, cargo tank truck and in small and tribal communities in Nebraska. Updated 12/15/23