Rail CRC and University of Wollongong (UoW) PhD student Behzad
Fatahi, was recently named Railway Technical Society of
Australasia’s (RTSA) 2007 Young Railway Engineer of the year.
RTSA awards the title to two young engineers annually in
recognition of professional achievement and involvement in the
railway engineering field including promoting a positive and
professional image for the industry.
Mr Fatahi, who is supervised by UoW’s Prof Buddhima
Indraratna and Dr Hadi Khabbaz, said he was very honoured to win
the award, which was in recognition of his research into the use of
vegetation to stabilise rail track foundation.
“The project demonstrates that railway infrastructure can be
improved by identifying and managing surrounding vegetation”,
Mr Fatahi said.
“This refutes the age-old belief that vegetation is
detrimental to railway tracks. We have developed a model that
integrates the pretty rare combination of geotechnical engineering
and botanical science to create a new procedure for designing
railway lines in the vicinity of native vegetation. The model
offers significant environmental benefits and significant savings
of the billions of dollars rail companies spend on track
maintenance.”
Mr Fatahi will receive a cash prize, certificate and free
registration, airfares and accommodation for the next Conference on
Railway Engineering (CORE).
