On August 16, two new faculty members, Drs. Ryan Fries and Huaguo Zhou, joined the Civil Engineering Department of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville as assistant professors. They both specialize in Transportation Engineering. This addition will not only enhance the University’s ability in teaching and researching in the ever- growing transportation field, but will also help to fulfill the transportation development needs of the St. Louis metropolitan area. Brief descriptions of their professional experience are listed below:
 | Dr. Ryan Fries will join SIUE’s civil engineering department this fall starting as an assistant professor. His area of focus is transportation engineering, specifically intelligent transportation systems. Ryan has recently moved from Clemson University in South Carolina, where he completed a position as an adjunct faculty member and post doctoral researcher. Clemson University is also where Ryan earned his doctorate and masters degrees. He recently passed his P.E. exam last spring and is looking forward to the publication of his first book this November titled Transportation Infrastructure Security Utilizing Intelligent Transportation Systems. |
 | Dr. Huaguo Zhou joined SIUE as an assistant professor in transportation engineering with the Department of Civil Engineering this fall. He holds a Ph.D. degree in transportation engineering from the University of South Florida and a bachelor’s and a Ph.D. degree in railway engineering from Beijing Jiaotong University. Before joining SIUE, he worked as a senior research associate at the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at the University of South Florida. He has published 14 peer reviewed journal papers and over 30 conference papers, and conducted research on many transportation projects including traffic operations, highway and transit safety, computer simulation, access management, and incident management. He recently received the distinguished cash award of 2008 Florida Davis Productivity Awards. |