Pasi Lautala, PE

Contact

ptlautal@mtu.edu
906-487-3547
Dillman 318

Associate Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
Director, Rail Transportation Program, Michigan Tech Transportation Institute

Biography

Dr. Lautala was appointed in August, 2012 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering and promoted to Associate Professor in 2017. He is also the founder and the Director of Rail Transportation Program (RTP) since the program was established in 2007. He is also a member of the Executive Committee for the Michigan Tech Transportation Institute (MTTI) and has been working on Mobility topics as a university Faculty Fellow in 2020-2021. Pasi has his BS from Tampere University of Technology in Finland and his MSc. And Ph.D. degrees from Michigan Tech University. Dr. Lautala has been a leader of more than three million dollars in external research, covering a range of topics related to the rail transportation, from trespasser and crossing safety to multimodal transportation logistics and railway capacity related topics. Under his leadership, Michigan Tech has also expanded the rail research portfolio to various departments across the campus. Dr. Lautala is also one the nationwide leaders in rejuvenation of rail transportation education in academia, including at Michigan Tech, a mission that has been advanced through Michigan Tech's participation in the National University Rail Center (NURail). Since 2013, Dr. Lautala has been appointed as a member of Michigan Commission for Supply Chain and Transportation Logistics Collaboration and he has recently been appointed as the Rail Group Chair by the Transportation Research Board (TRB). He is also actively involved in the AREMA Education and Training Committee. His previous experience includes work with Finnish Railways prior to his arrival in the US, as well as five years of railroad and highway-engineering consulting experience in Chicago before his return to Michigan Tech.

Links of Interest

Recent Publications

Nadri, C., Lee, SC., Kekal, S, Li, Y., Li X., Lautala, P., Nelson, D., Jeon, M., Effects of Auditory Display Types and Acoustic Variables on Subjective Driver Assessment in a Rail-Crossing Context. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. April 2021. https:/doi.org/10.1177/03611981211007838
*Ko, S.; Lautala, P.; Zhang, K. Log Truck Value Analysis from Increased Rail Usage. Forests 2020, 11, 677. https://doi.org/10.3390/f11060677
Lautala, P.; Zhang, K. Ko, S., Log Movement in the Superior Region - Rate and Capacity Based Analysis of Modal Shares. Final Report, March, 2020, Prepared for Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Michigan Department of Transportation and Michigan Department of Agricultural and Rural Development
*Ko, S.; Lautala, P.; Zhang, K. Data-Driven Study on the Sustainable Log Movements: Impact of Rail Car Fleet Size on Freight Storage and Car Idling. Sustainability (2020), 12, 4563., https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114563
Dick, C.T., Lautala P., Schlake, B.W., STEM K-12 Outreach as the Root of Transportation Education: Experiences from the Railway Engineering Field, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, (2019), 2673, 12, 558-569. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198119841564
*Ko, S., Lautala P., Fan, J., Shonnard, D.,Economic, Social and Environmental Cost Optimization of Biomass Transportation: A Regional Model for Transportation Analysis in Plant Location Process, Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining (2019), 13(3), pp. 582-598, https://doi.org/10.1002/bbb.1967
Lautala, P., From In-Vehicle Alerts to Analyzing Driver Behavior – Level Crossing Research in the United States, ILCAD Conference, Amersfoot, Netherlands, June 5-7, 2019

Recent Funding

Agency U.S. Department of Transportation (Federal Railroad Administration)
Title Effects of In-Vehicle Auditory Alerts On Driver Behaviors At Highway-Rail Grade Crossings
Amount $382,000 (Phase 1&2), Total project value (Phase 1-3) = $515,916
Role PI: Pasi Lautala,Co-PI: Myounghoon Jeon
Dates Apr, 2019 – Aug, 2021
Agency            U.S. Department of Transportation (Federal Railroad Administration)
Title                 Automated Drone Based Grade Crossing Inspection – Phase 1 and 2
Amount           $150,000 (Phase 1), $xxx,xxx Phase 2, (In procurement)
Role                 PI: Colin Brooks (MTRI, Inc.), Co-PI: Pasi Lautala, Richard Dobson
Dates               Oct, 2019 – Apr, 2020
Agency            U.S. Department of Transportation (Federal Railroad Administration)
Title                 Implementation of Online Training Modules to Rail Learning System
Amount           $32,910
Role                 PI: Pasi Lautala, Co-PI: John Velat
Dates               Sept, 2017 – Sept, 2020
Agency            U.S. Department of Transportation (Federal Railroad Administration)
Title                 Railroad Artificial Intelligence Intruder Learning System (RAIILS)
Amount           $303,616
Role                 PI: Erick Vega, Co-PI: Pasi Lautala, Colin Brooks
Dates               Apr, 2019 – Sept, 2020
Agency            Michigan Technological University
Title                 Summer Undergraduate Research Fund (SURF): Auditory Warnings at Active Railroad Grade Crossings: An Analysis of the Effectiveness, Consequences, and Necessities of Locomotive and Wayside Horns
Amount           $4,000
Role                 PI: Walter Friesel (advisors Pasi Lautala, David Nelson)
Dates               May – August, 2020

Presentations

Railway Grade Crossing and Trespassing Safety presentations, Penn State University – Altoona (December, 2019), Univ. of Nevada – Las Vegas (March, 2020)
Public hearing on Freight Rail Service in Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Northern Wisconsin, Testimony, Marquette, MI (August, 2019)
MEDA Annual Meeting, Mobility Panel Session, Marquette, MI (August, 2019)
Michigan Rail Conference, Lansing, MI, Crossing & Trespasser Safety Research and Upper Midwest Log/Forest Study (August, 2019)
National Highway – Rail Grade Crossing Safety Conference, Pittsburgh, PA (August, 2019)
Summerail 2019, St. Louis, MO, Upper Midwest Log/Forest Study (July, 2019)