Imad L. Al-Qadi, Ph.D., P.E., Dist. M. ASCE (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Join NCTSPM for this Transportation Speaker Series event, featuring Dr. Imad L. Al-Qadi, P.E., Dist. M. ASCE, Professor of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Founder and Director of the Illinois Center for Transportation, and Director of the Advanced Transportation Research and Engineering Laboratory. Dr. Al-Qadi will be speaking on the topic of "The Future of Flexible Pavement Sustainability".

Sustainable transportation is vital to ensure a future that preserves all three aspects of the triple bottom line: environment, economy, and society. In 2011, the transportation sector was responsible for approximately 28% of the total energy consumption and greenhouse gases emissions in the U.S. While the majority of these environmental impacts are emitted from vehicles, infrastructure also plays a large role in the environmental footprint of the transportation sector with direct implications on the vehicles traversing it. The future of pavement sustainability must be holistic. Thus, the pursuit of a sustainable pavement system requires a life-cycle approach, where each life-cycle stage of a pavement can be defined, evaluated, and optimized with respect to its environmental impacts.

In this presentation, the life cycle phases of a pavement system will be discussed; including the environmental impacts of using innovative techniques and more efficient processes at each phase to quantify and identify sustainable strategies. The use phase is the most complex of the life-cycle stages that includes the relationship between the tire, vehicle, and pavement. Rolling resistance is directly related to fuel consumptions and is affected by characteristics of tire and pavement. In addition to discussing pavement life cycle assessment, tire characteristics and pavement’s texture, roughness, and structure and their impact on fuel consumption and emissions will be presented.

Professor Al-Qadi is the Founder Professor of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is also the Director of the Advanced Transportation Research and Engineering Laboratory (ATREL) and the founding Director of the Illinois Center for Transportation (ICT). Prior to that, he was the Charles E. Via, Jr. Professor at Virginia Tech. A registered professional engineer, Professor Al-Qadi has authored/ coauthored around 600 publications and has delivered more than 550 presentations including numerous keynote lectures. He has led more than 100 projects to completion; in addition, he is managing more than 60 projects annually as an ICT director since 2006. He is the past president of the ASCE T&DI Board of Governors and the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Pavement Engineering. Professor Al-Qadi has received numerous prestigious national and international honors and awards including the NSF Young Investigator Award, the quadrennial IGS Award, the ASCE James Laurel Prize, the ARTBA Steinberg Award, the ASCE Turner Award, and the French Limoges Medal. He is a Chapter Honorary Member of Chi Epsilon at the University of Illinois, an Honorary Member of the Societa Italiana Infrastructure Viarie, Emeritus Member of TRB Committee AHD25 on Sealants and Fillers for Joints and Cracks, and an Honorary Professor at several universities in Europe and China. In 2010 he was elected as an ASCE Distinguished Member. Dr. Al-Qadi holds a B.S. degree from Yarmouk University and M.Eng. and Ph.D. degrees from Penn State University, all in civil engineering. His expertise on highway and airfield pavement mechanics and evaluation, tire-pavement interaction, GPR, asphalt rheology, pavement sustainability, and forensic engineering and arbitration.