K-State civil engineering professor receives national award

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Source: Brian A. Coon, 785-532-1573, bcoon@k-state.edu

Monday, January 22, 2007

K-STATE CIVIL ENGINEERING PROFESSOR RECEIVES NATIONAL AWARD

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University's Brian A. Coon, associate professor of civil engineering and the new director of the University Transportation Center, is receiving the 2007 Practice-Ready Paper Award from the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of Science.

Coon's paper, which guides transportation engineers on the selection of the appropriate placement of guardrail, was co-written with Dean Sicking of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and King Mak, a Texas engineering consultant.

Coon's research consisted of reconstructing more than 850 real-world accidents to determine how the vehicles left the roadway. The research included blood alcohol concentrations, ages of drivers and passengers, and other detailed information about the crashes. The information will be used for future analysis in an attempt to reduce the number of crashes on the nation's roadways, Coon said.

Coon will be accepting the award today at the Transportation Research Board's annual meeting in Washington, D.C.