This week's Transportation Engineering Seminar Series will host Dr. Richard L. Wood, Mateus Dias, and Ryan Loehr on Friday, November 13. Their presentation will highlight ongoing RailAID research integrating uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), high-resolution remote sensing, and artificial intelligence to advance automated railroad infrastructure assessment. The research team is developing computer vision frameworks to identify railroad components and assess their condition.
The presentation will explore UAS data acquisition, image annotation, machine learning model development, and the integration of automated detection results into geospatial workflows. Examples from railroad field deployments will demonstrate automated identification of railroad components, detection of ballast fouling, and three-dimensional assessment of track gauge and alignment. The team will also discuss current technical challenges and opportunities for improving the efficiency, consistency, and scalability of railroad infrastructure assessment. The research is supported by the Federal Railroad Administration through the CRISI: Promoting Railroading Careers and Developing the Current Rail Industry Workforce project.
Dr. Richard L. Wood is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Dr. Wood’s research focuses on remote sensing, artificial intelligence, and advanced geospatial technologies to characterize and assess the built and natural environment. Research areas include structural health monitoring, railroad infrastructure assessment, and natural hazard assessment, with an emphasis on integrating UAS, lidar, and computer vision into engineering applications.
Mateus Dias is a Ph.D. student and Graduate Research Assistant in Civil and Environmental Engineering at UNL, specializing in structural engineering. Dias’s research focuses on integrating drones and artificial intelligence for automated railroad infrastructure assessment.
Ryan Loehr is a second-year Civil Engineering student at UNL and a senior image annotator within the research group. Loehr’s interests focus on transportation engineering, with plans to pursue a career in railroad engineering.
Event Details
Date: Friday, November 13, 2026
Time: 10:50–11:50 a.m. Central Time
Lincoln: Kiewit Hall (KH), Room A510
Omaha: Peter Kiewit Institute (PKI), Room 160 (remote)
External guests: May participate via Zoom
Professional development: Participants will earn 1 Professional Development Hour (PDH).
For complete event and access information, visit the November 13 NTC event page.
