UW’s Amirarsalan Molan, center, received the 2018 Best Paper Award at the American
Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) International Conference on Transportation and Development.
From left are Yinhai Wang, president of the ASCE conference; Robin Kemper, president
of the ASCE; Molan; Thomas Smith III, the executive director of the ASCE; and Muhammad
Amer, director of the ASCE conference. (ASCE Photo)
Amirarsalan Molan, a postdoctoral research associate with the Wyoming Technology Transfer
Center at the University of Wyoming, recently received the 2018 Journal of Transportation
Engineering Best Paper Award.
Molan was honored for his paper, “Travel Time Evaluation of Synchronized and Milwaukee
B as New Interchange Designs,” June 11 during the American Society of Civil Engineers
(ASCE) International Conference on Transportation and Development in Virginia.
Most existing highway interchanges were built over 60 years ago in the United States,
based on outdated design policies. Molan and his Ph.D. adviser studied new concepts
through simulation analysis and real-data validation, which pointed toward solutions
to create safer highway travel on the country’s aging infrastructure. As the rising
population increases motor traffic, researchers -- including Molan --have been seeking
alternatives to improve performance and safety on existing interchanges.
“I am happy that our paper has been selected as the best paper of 2018 in the ASCE
Journal of Transportation Engineering,” Molan says. “I hope it will result in a positive
impact to provide safer and more efficient service for all types of transportation
users.”
Molan obtained his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from Azad University
in Tehran, Iran, and his doctoral degree from Wayne State University (WSU). Before
joining UW in October 2017, he worked as a professional aide at Michigan State University
and as an instructor at WSU. He is a first author and co-author of over 20 peer-reviewed
scientific articles in civil engineering journals and conferences.
To date, he has been the main or second principal investigator on three research projects
funded by the Wyoming Department of Transportation and the Mountain-Plains Consortium,
with a total value of $460,000. His research has led to new design proposals for improving
the performance and extending the serviceability of existing interchanges and intersections.
He recently invented a new design called a “super diverging diamond interchange” as
an alternative for failing interchanges.
