Christopher P. L. Barkan

Christopher P. L. Barkan is a Professor and George Krambles Director of the Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He holds additional leadership roles including Director of the National University Rail (NURail) Center and Deputy Director of the Railway Supply Institute-AAR Tank Car Safety Project. His career spans academic, industry, and governmental roles, including 10 years at the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.

Education: B.A. (1977) from Goddard College, M.S. (1984) and Ph.D. (1987) in Biology from SUNY Albany.

Research Interests: Focuses on railroad safety, risk analysis, hazardous materials transport, energy efficiency, and rail infrastructure economics. He has pioneered curricula in rail engineering, expanding offerings from 1 to 10 courses at UIUC. His work integrates academic research with industry needs, addressing tank car safety, derailment analysis, and policy development.

Key Contributions: Developed novel methodologies for rail safety benchmarking, tank car design optimization, and risk assessment frameworks. His research has informed U.S. and international rail safety policies, including testimony before Congress and NTSB forums.

• Recipient of the Charles H. Hochman Lifetime Achievement Award (2018) and T.A. Stewart-Dyer Award (2008).
• Lead over 100 publications on rail engineering, including tank car safety and environmental risk analyses.
• Organized major rail conferences (e.g., Joint Rail Conferences 2008–2015) and serves on TRB committees.

Labs/Initiatives: Leads RailTEC and NURail, fostering collaborations between academia, industry, and government to advance rail technology and safety.