September 24, 2020

Assistant Professor Sabreena Anowar

Sabreena Anowar, assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Architectural Studies at MU, won a 2020 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU).

“It’s a huge honor to be one of the 35 recipients from across the nation,” said Anowar. “It’s a real morale and confidence booster, as well.”

“This award is very prestigious and only awarded to a handful of promising early career faculty across the nation,” said Praveen Edara, chair of the civil and environmental engineering department. “Dr. Anowar’s work in transportation policy, especially in investigating new multimodal options, has great impact in Missouri and beyond.”

The ORAU presents the Powe Award to young faculty members to enhance their research skills and professional growth. Over 100 PHD-granting institutions are part of ORAU, including Columbia University, the University of Texas and Johns Hopkins University.

Hyperloop Research of Public Perception

Anowar won the award for a specific research proposal. She plans to collect people’s feedback and thoughts on the proposed hyperloop that would cross Missouri. This study would gather in-depth insights from potential passengers and their willingness to use the service.

“Hyperloop is the transportation buzzword right now, especially in Missouri,” Anowar said. “It is a new generation of transportation mode. You may go over 600 miles per hour, and that’s something we’ve never seen before.”

Anowar and her team will conduct research that will determine what factors will cause people to be interested to use this service. The team will use an internet-based stated preference survey. The respondents will be provided hypothetical choice scenarios with mode choice options per scenario. In addition, they will also choose their preferred mode weighing different attributes pertaining to trip and the technology itself.

“The benefit of such a study is to have the manufacturers creating the technology be able to address potential consumer issues when designing the technology,” Anowar said. “Initially, the study will be for understanding passenger travel using hyperloop. Then it can be expanded for companies that ship goods.”

Anowar expects opportunities for a graduate student and undergraduate students to participate on this project.