WASHINGTON — The Transportation Research Board’s Airport Cooperative Research Program announced today this year’s recipients of its annual ACRP Graduate Research Awards. The prestigious award focuses on applied research of airport and related aviation system issues to help the public sector improve the quality, reliability, safety, and security of the U.S. civil aviation system.

The ACRP Graduate Research Award was established to stimulate thought, discussion, and research by graduate students who will become part of the future airport industry workforce. Now in its 20th year, the program is sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration and managed by TRB. The eight awardees, representing six universities from across the U.S., will focus on a wide variety of topics including airfield pavement, airport planning considerations, and advanced air mobility.

The award offers winners a $12,000 stipend; the opportunity to present their work at the 2028 TRB Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.; and the possibility to have their final research paper published in TRB’s journal, Transportation Research Record. Awardees are also assigned a panel of experts to advise them throughout their research.

“The ACRP Graduate Research Awards are an investment in both new ideas and the next generation of airport professionals,” said Monique Evans, director of TRB’s Cooperative Research Programs. “These students are applying their talents to real challenges facing airports while helping us explore the technologies and approaches that will shape aviation’s future.”

The 2026 recipients of the ACRP Graduate Research Award are:

Fatemeh Banani Ardecani is a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Her research project is titled “Data Workflow and BIM-Based Digital Twin Prototype for Sensor-Fused Runway Pavement Monitoring at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.” Omidreza Shoghli is her faculty mentor.

Mohamed Suhoothi Abdul Careem is a doctoral student at the University of Georgia. His research project is titled “System for Assessment of Flooding Resilience of Asphalt Airfield Pavements.” Mi Geum Chorzepa is his faculty mentor.

Yihan Chen is a doctoral student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research project is titled “Multifrequency Ground Penetrating Radar Framework for Layer Thickness and Density Prediction of Flexible Airfield Pavements.” Imad Al-Qadi is her faculty mentor.

Jimin Choi is a doctoral student at the University of Michigan. Her research project is titled “Quantifying the Airport Operational Value of Pathfinder Flights During Convective Weather Disruptions.” Max Li is her faculty mentor.

Murryam Hafeez is a graduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research project is titled “A Probabilistic Life-Cycle Cost Analysis Framework for Hydrogen-Ready Airports: Evaluating Refueling Scenarios and Infrastructure Upgrade Pathways.” Imad Al-Qadi is her faculty mentor.

Rajrup Mitra is a doctoral student at Iowa State University. His research project is titled “Advancing Decision Support for Airfield Pavements Management with Multimodal Data-Assisted Knowledge Graphs.” Berk Gulmezoglu is his faculty mentor.

Ninh Nguyen is a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. His research project is titled “Privacy-Preserving LiDAR-Based Vehicle Flow Analytics for Airport Curbside Operations.” Srinivas Akella is his faculty mentor.

Jialong Sun is a doctoral student at Purdue University. His research project is titled “Reducing Truck Congestion at Airports Using an AI-Enabled Predictive Scheduling Approach.” Fecri Karanki is his faculty mentor.

The Airport Cooperative Research Program is an industry-driven, applied research program that develops near-term, practical solutions to airport challenges. The program is managed by the Transportation Research Board, which is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine — private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, engineering, and medicine. The National Academies operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln.

The mission of the Transportation Research Board is to mobilize expertise, experience, and knowledge to anticipate and solve complex transportation-related challenges. The program is supported by state departments of transportation, federal agencies including components of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other organizations and individuals interested in the development of transportation. Learn more about the Transportation Research Board here.

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