WASHINGTON — The Transportation Research Board’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) today announced winners of its annual Graduate Research Awards. The prestigious awards focus on applied research on airport and related aviation system issues to help the public sector continue to improve the quality, reliability, safety, and security of the U.S. civil aviation system.

ACRP Graduate Research Awards stimulate thought, discussion, and research by those who will become part of the future airport industry workforce. Now in its 14^th year, the program is sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) through ACRP and managed by the Virginia Space Grant Consortium. This year’s 12 graduate student awardees represent nine universities from across the U.S. Their research focuses on a wide variety of topics including pavements, urban air mobility, and environmental sustainability.

The ACRP Graduate Research Award offers a $12,000 stipend as well as the opportunity for the student’s final research paper to be published in TRB’s journal, Transportation Research Record (TRR), and to present their work at TRB’s Annual Meeting, to be held virtually in January 2021.

The 2020–2021 recipients of the ACRP Graduate Research Awards are:

Daniela Betancourt Jimenez is a doctoral student at Purdue University majoring in materials engineering. Her paper is titled “Use of Enhanced PCM Microcapsules to Melt Ice and Snow on Airport Pavements.” Carlos Martinez is her faculty mentor.

Christopher Cummings is a doctoral student at Northwestern University majoring in transportation systems. His paper is titled “Evaluating the Potential of Urban Air Mobility Service to Airports.” Hani Mahmassani is his faculty mentor.

Ebenezer Duah is a master’s student at Arizona State University majoring in civil engineering. His paper is titled “Critical Distresses Analytics to Develop Performance Prediction Models for Small Hub Airfield Pavements.” Hasan Ozer is his faculty mentor.

Javier García Mainieri is a doctoral student at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign majoring in civil engineering. His paper is titled “Leveraging Environmental Impact and Elasticity of Plastics in Sustainable Flexible Airfield Pavements.” Imad Al-Qadi is his faculty mentor.

Fiona Greer is a doctoral student at University of California, Berkeley, majoring in civil and environmental engineering. Her paper is titled “Life-Cycle Approach to Healthy Airport Terminal Buildings: A Spatial-Temporal Analysis of Mitigation Strategies for Addressing Climate Change and Human Health.” Jasenka Rakas is her faculty mentor.

Mingu Kang is a doctoral student at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign majoring in civil and environmental engineering. His paper is titled “Airport Pavement Stiffness Monitoring and Assessment of Mechanical Stabilization Using Bender Element Field Sensor.” Erol Tutumluer is his faculty mentor.

Mark Kotwicz Herniczek is a doctoral student at Georgia Institute of Technology majoring in aerospace engineering. His paper is titled “Integration of Urban Air Mobility into Existing Airport Operations.” Brian German is his faculty mentor.

Maryssa Loehr is a doctoral student at Washington University in St. Louis majoring in environmental, energy, and chemical engineering. Her paper is titled “Measurement of Ultrafine Particles During Aircraft Descent for Dispersion Modeling Validation.” Jay Turner is her faculty mentor.

Lamiya Noor is a master’s student at Oregon State University majoring in civil and construction engineering. Her paper is titled “Developing a New Decision-Making Tool for Selecting Rapid Repair Material for Concrete Airfield Pavement.” Jason Ideker is her faculty mentor.

Drew Taplin is a master’s student at Arizona State University majoring in urban and environmental planning. His paper is titled “Analysis of Ultra Low-Cost Carriers and Airport Choice.” Michael Kuby is his faculty mentor.

Pengyu Xie is a doctoral student at Rutgers University majoring in civil engineering. His paper is titled “Impact of Climate Change on Airfield Pavement Temperature and Field Performance.” Hao Wang is his faculty mentor.

Chuyang Yang is a doctoral student at Purdue University majoring in aviation technology. His paper is titled “Developing a Cost-Effective Assessment Method of Noise Impact for Non-towered Airports: A Case Study at Purdue University Airport.” John Mott is his faculty adviser.

Former awardee Clayton Stambaugh (2011-2012), currently with the Illinois Department of Transportation notes, “Participating in the program tremendously helped my professional career. This program was the first real-world practical experience that I had with real outside expectations and timelines. To get this opportunity was invaluable.”

“The greatest benefit of the program is that it gives the students the chance to interact with experts in aviation very early in careers,” said faculty adviser Lauri Garrow of Georgia Institute of Technology.

More information about this year’s awardees and their projects will be available online for TRB’s Annual Meeting in January 2021. Applications for the following year open in February and close in May.

Including this year’s awardees, the program has now included 130 students from more than 70 universities. Nearly all of the awardees have seen their work published in TRR and several are pending publication. 

The Transportation Research Board is a program unit of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine—private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine. The National Academies operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln.