Khattak named director of Mid-America Transportation Center at UNL

Aemal Khattak, professor of civil and environmental engineering and a national leader in highway and rail crossing safety, has been chosen as director of the Mid-America Transportation Center (MATC).

Khattak, who became associate director of MATC in July 2019, was named interim director of both MATC and the Nebraska Transportation Center (NTC) this past July. He will continue to serve as NTC’s interim director.

An active member of the Transportation Research Board, Khattak is the inaugural editorial board member of the Transportation Research Records, Journal of the Transportation Research Board and chaired the board’s Standing Committee on Highway/Rail Grade Crossings. His research is on transportation safety, transportation planning and intelligent transportation systems. Khattak’s research projects, both national and international, have received more than $6 million in funding. He is a recipient of the College of Engineering faculty service award and the university-wide distinguished teaching award.

Khattak joined the College of Engineering in 2000 as assistant professor of civil engineering. He received his Ph.D. from the North Carolina State University and Master of Science degree from Pennsylvania State University, both in civil engineering.

MATC was designated in 2016 as the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Region VIII University Transportation Center. The region includes Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.

MATC works with leading faculty members from multiple academic departments of the consortium universities, state transportation agencies, members of the commercial freight industry, and other partner organizations to successfully meet the research, education, and technology transfer objectives associated with the center’s theme. The theme is improving transportation safety and minimizing risk associated with increasing multi-modal freight movements on the U.S. surface transportation system.