The AREMA Student Chapter at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign receives funding from RailTEC, the school’s student organization board, and from professional societies, Class 1 railroads, and leading private companies in the rail industry. We thank our sponsors for their generous financial support through the years, as without it we cannot host some of our fun and knowledgable on-campus events and field trips.
If you are interested in providing financial support, speaking at a student chapter event, or hosting a field visit, please contact us at aremauiuc@gmail.com.
The following is a list of organizations who have provided financial support to the chapter over the last few years. Click on any of the sponsor headers to be directed to their website.
Alstom
Headquartered in Saint-Ouen, France, Alstom is a multi-national company specializing in railroad infrastructure and rolling stock across the world. Alstom’s ambition is to accompany all transportation stakeholders in meeting tomorrow’s mobility challenges. We strive to provide them with the most efficient and digital mobility systems, while further improving the environmental friendliness of our solutions.
AREMA
AREMA is a professional association for railway engineering personnel that offers numerous educational opportunities and produces and publishes the recommended practices for railway engineering infrastructure including track, structures and communications & signals. Its mission is the development and advancement of both technical and practical knowledge of the industry and recommended practices pertaining to the design, construction and maintenance of railway infrastructure. The American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) was created by the October 1, 1997 merger of the American Railway Engineering Association (AREA, formed 1899) with the American Railway Bridge and Building Association (ARB&B), the Roadmaster’s and Maintenance of Way Association (RMWA), and the functions of the Communications and Signals Division of the Association of American Railroads.
BNSF Railway
Today’s BNSF Railway is the product of nearly 400 different railroad lines that merged or were acquired over the course of 160 years. While many different railroads combined to form BNSF, the people who worked at those railroads shared many traits. The people who built BNSF were — and continue to be — a unique breed, blending the forward-thinking of dreamers with the pragmatism of results-oriented business leaders. This heritage played a central role in settling and growing the American West, and today, BNSF continues to have a significant impact in meeting the needs of shippers and serving the economy.
Brightline
Brightline is a privately run passenger railroad operating trains at up to 125 mph in Florida, with plans for service at up to 186 mph between California and Las Vegas. Brightline brings European-style passenger rail to the US for distances that are too long to drive and too short to fly, with the goal of making travel stress-free and fun.
Canadian National Railway (CN)
CN is a true backbone of the economy whose team of approximately 24,000 railroaders transports more than C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network of approximately 20,000 route-miles spanning Canada and mid-America.
Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway offers transportation services and supply chain expertise with access to 8 major ports & key markets across North America.
Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central)
Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central, also known as JR Tokai) commenced operations in April 1987 upon the privatization and breakup of the Japanese National Railways (JNR). The core of JR Central’s operations is the Tokaido Shinkansen, the main transportation artery linking Japan’s principal metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, and a network of conventional lines centered on the Nagoya and Shizuoka areas. JR Central and its consolidated subsidiaries also develop affiliated businesses that are expected to generate synergic effects with the railway business. JR Central is steadily moving forward with efforts aimed at the early completion of the Chuo Shinkansen using the Superconducting Maglev system.
Engineering Systems, Inc. (ESi)
Engineering Systems Inc. (ESi) is an engineering and scientific investigation and analysis firm committed to providing clear answers to the most challenging technical problems. Their technical expertise, practical experience, technological resources, and extensive diagnostic, analytical, and physical testing capabilities empower them to provide their clients with the most comprehensive and efficient solutions across dozens of industries. Their experts are well-known for their professionalism, precision, response time, and scientific and academic contributions to the industries they work in. In the railroad industry, they primarily perform forensic derailment investigations.
Evertrak
Evertrak is a major composite tie developer and manufacturer in St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis connects with the majority of the Class 1 railroads, making them easily accessible for railroad tie distribution.
Holland LP
Holland is a dedicated engineering-driven company that excels at developing partnerships with its customers to deliver comprehensive and progressive transportation solutions for the railroad and related industries. Our core values of family, respect, partnership, integrity and improvement provide the foundation for everything we do. For our partners, this means we deliver our commitments to safety: striving towards zero injuries and accidents; quality: providing quality products and services and continually looking for ways to improve; and leadership: developing industry leading technology and employees.
Kiewit
Kiewit is one of North America’s largest and most respected construction and engineering organizations. With its roots dating back to 1884, the employee-owned organization operates through a network of subsidiaries in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Kiewit offers construction and engineering services in a variety of markets including transportation; oil, gas and chemical; power; building; water/wastewater; industrial; and mining. Kiewit had 2017 revenues of $8.7 billion and employs 22,000 staff and craft employees.
Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC)
For over a century the University of Illinois has been a leader in railway engineering research and education. We inspire and sustain students’ and faculty interest in rail engineering and transport offering a curriculum in rail engineering and transportation. Our research understands, develops, and communicates the critical issues in rail engineering to the rail community. The U of I has a distinguished record of accomplishment and remains highly respected by today’s railroad engineering community.
Stacy and Witbeck
Stacy and Witbeck offers a full range of construction and management services on complex rail and transportation projects. As an employee-owned company, Stacey and Witbeck’s assets are managed by those closest to the work – the highly trained, highly skilled, and resourceful members of the management and field staffs who continually demonstrate remarkable expertise in managing and constructing projects.
Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis
Since 1889, the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis has played a vital role in the railroad operations and growth of the St. Louis metropolitan area. The Association was originally created to satisfy the need for an efficient, safe, and economical method of interchanging rail traffic at the railroad hub of St. Louis, Missouri: the “Gateway to the West.” Over 120 years later, the employees of the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis make the same commitment to efficiency, safety, and value to their customers, owners, and the public with each new day.
Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad is the principal operating company of Union Pacific Corporation. One of America’s most recognized companies, Union Pacific Railroad connects 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country by rail, providing a critical link in the global supply chain. In the last 10 years, 2008-2017, Union Pacific invested approximately $34 billion in its network and operations to support America’s transportation infrastructure. The railroad’s diversified business mix is classified into its Agricultural Products, Energy, and Industrial and Premium business groups. Union Pacific serves many of the fastest-growing U.S. population centers, operates from all major West Coast and Gulf Coast ports to eastern gateways, connects with Canada’s rail systems and is the only railroad serving all six major Mexico gateways. Union Pacific provides value to its roughly 10,000 customers by delivering products in a safe, reliable, fuel-efficient and environmentally responsible manner.
WSP
WSP is one of the world’s leading engineering professional services consulting firms. We are dedicated to our local communities and propelled by international brainpower. We are technical experts and strategic advisors including engineers, technicians, scientists, architects, planners, surveyors and environmental specialists, as well as other design, program and construction management professionals. We design lasting solutions in the Property & Buildings, Transportation & Infrastructure, Environment, Industry, Resources (including Mining and Oil & Gas) and Power & Energy sectors as well as project delivery and strategic consulting services. With 43,000 talented people in more than 550 offices across 40 countries, we engineer projects that will help societies grow for lifetimes to come.