Shashi Nambisan, professor of civil engineering and director of the Transportation Research Center (TRC) at UNLV, was recently named the university's 2005 Harry Reid Silver State Research Award winner. The award carries with it a $10,000 stipend and a medal.
Nambisan has been at UNLV since 1989, when he began work on a research program that aimed to identify and address transportation issues that faced Nevada's growing population. Since then, he has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on more than 115 sponsored projects at UNLV.
One such project that garnered national attention was Nambisan's work with the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects and Clark County to establish a method for evaluating the risks associated with the potential transport of spent nuclear fuel and other high-level radioactive materials to the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain. His work with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology enabled him to conduct a transportation impact assessment on the region and an analysis of alternative routes and their impact on states and communities. He also analyzed the potential impact on the project's infrastructure, including emergency management and response consequences.
Nambisan has been and continues to be instrumental in research aimed at improving transportation safety in Clark County, which is evidenced through his work toward building the Transportation Research Center (TRC) at UNLV, which promotes and conducts transportation research, education, and outreach activities. An example of his work with the TRC includes the Pedestrian Safety Program (sponsored primarily by the Federal Highway Administration), which identifies and analyzes high-risk pedestrian incident areas in order to allocate resources for safety improvements, thus advancing pedestrian safety and walkability within the urban boundaries of the Las Vegas Metropolitan area.
His efforts funded by the Nevada Office of Safety include those aimed at enhancing traffic safety, and the implementation of the Alternative Mode Program which educates the public through programs focusing on pedestrian and bicycle safety. He also has led efforts on projects for the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, Clark County Department of Public Works to help improve the planning, operations, and management of transportation systems.
Recognized both locally and nationally for his work to improve transportation, Nambisan was honored with the 2003 Outstanding Educator Award by the Institute of Transportation Engineers District 6 (13 Westernmost states in the US), and has won numerous faculty, teaching, and research awards at UNLV.
Nambisan earned his bachelor's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras in 1984, his Master of Science degree from Virginia Tech in 1985, and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1989 - all of which are in Civil Engineering.
The Harry Reid Silver State Research Award was created in 2001 by UNLV President Carol C. Harter to honor full-time faculty members who are engaged in significant research that positively affects the economic growth of Nevada, addresses a pressing social need in the community, or demonstrably advances significant scholarship in an academic field of knowledge.
