FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2007

Contact: Associate Professor Christopher Barkan
Railroad Engineering Program, University of Illinois,
(217) 244-6338, cbarkan@uiuc.edu
Kimberley Hagemann, Program Coordinator,
(217) 244-0841, hagemann@uiuc.edu
Amy Kay, Public Relations Coordinator
(217) 747-9283, akay@hanson-inc.com

University of Illinois Railroad Engineering Program to Expand
Thanks to Major Gift from Hanson Professional Services Inc.

URBANA, Ill.—North America’s leading railroad engineering program will expand this year, assisted by a $150,000 pledge over five years to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from Hanson Professional Services Inc. of Springfield, Ill. The gift will help fund a new teaching position and enhance the program.

The 100-year-old Railroad Engineering Program at U of I, headquartered within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is recognized in the industry as North America’s premier railroad engineering program. The Illinois program has the largest selection of courses and broadest array of rail-related research of any North American university. Illinois is also home to one of only three Association of American Railroads affiliated laboratories in the nation, and Illinois’ lab is the oldest and most mature.

The planned expansion, supported by Hanson and several major railroads, will enable the department to expand its railroad engineering course offerings and encourage more students to pursue careers in the field. Because of an aging work force, numerous career opportunities exist in the railroad industry. Half of all railroad engineering professionals are expected to retire within the next five years, according to Associate Professor Christopher P.L. Barkan of the Railroad Engineering Program.

Hanson Professional Services, founded in 1954 by U of I alumnus and former civil engineering faculty member Walter E. Hanson, has been a longtime supporter of the program. In addition to this latest financial contribution, Hanson engineers will work with the department on research and development projects, present guest lectures and mentor students within the Railroad Engineering Program.

“This generous support from Hanson represents a new type of partnership between the profession and academia,” said Professor and Head Robert H. Dodds Jr. “We applaud this innovative thinking at Hanson which will lead to more students pursuing careers in the rail engineering industry.”

“Hanson’s continuing commitment to the University and a desire to advance the field of railroad engineering prompted the gift,” said Sergio “Satch” Pecori, P.E., Hanson’s president and chief executive officer and an alumnus of U of I’s civil engineering program.

“Our founder, Walter Hanson, has close ties to the U of I and many of our employees are alumni,” Pecori said. “We have built our employee-owned company around our hardworking, intelligent engineers and scientists, many of whom have attended U of I.”

Hanson Professional Services Inc. is a full-service, employee-owned consulting firm with annual revenues of about $60 million. Hanson employs more than 390 employees in 20 locations nationwide, including five Illinois locations: Oak Brook, Peoria, Rockford, Springfield and Tinley Park. The company is involved in railroad projects throughout the United States.

For more information about Hanson, visit http://www.hanson-inc.com. For more information about the Railroad Engineering Program, visit http://sftp.cee.uiuc.edu/research/railroad/.

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