CTS presented the following awards during its Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon on May 5, 2026. Congratulations to this year's recipients!
Richard P. Braun Distinguished Service Award
This award, which recognizes outstanding leadership in research and innovation, was presented to Frank Douma, director of state and local policy and outreach for the Institute for Urban and Regional Infrastructure Finance at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs and a longtime CTS scholar.
Douma's research focuses on policy and legal issues related to transportation technologies, including telework, transportation finance tools, safety, and self-driving vehicles. He has been widely quoted in local and national media, from The New York Times to the Fergus Falls Daily Journal and the Wall Street Journal to the White Bear Press. Douma has also authored numerous legal and academic journal articles.
Distinguished Public Leadership Award
Senator Tina Smith received this award, which recognizes public leaders who have influenced innovative transportation policy directions that benefit society.
Sen. Smith has represented Minnesota in the U.S. Senate for the past eight years. After serving as chief of staff to both Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Governor Mark Dayton, she was elected as Minnesota’s 48th lieutenant governor. As lieutenant governor, she traveled to every corner of the state to talk with, learn from, and work on behalf of Minnesotans.
Since joining the Senate in 2018, Sen. Smith has passed more than 70 bills and provisions into law. She serves on the Senate Finance, Banking, Agriculture, and Indian Affairs Committees and is the ranking member of the Senate Housing Subcommittee and Senate Fiscal Responsibility Subcommittee. During her tenure, Sen. Smith has been a champion for increasing access to mental health care and has led efforts to make healthcare more affordable for Americans. She has also expanded access to broadband across rural communities, boosted workforce development programs, protected consumers, and passed the most significant climate legislation in U.S. history.
Ray L. Lappegaard Distinguished Service Award
This award was presented to Kristine Elwood, assistant commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Transportation's State Aid and Statewide Radio Communications. It honors outstanding leadership, mentorship, and support for the transportation profession.
A professional civil engineer, Elwood has dedicated her career to public service. She currently leads statewide collaboration with local governments to provide funding and guidance as they plan, design, construct, and maintain Minnesota’s transportation system. Elwood also oversees the Allied Radio Matrix Emergency Response system—the mission-critical communications network that supports daily operations for first responders across Minnesota, including law enforcement, fire and emergency management service agencies, Minnesota tribal nations, and Metro Transit.
William K. Smith Distinguished Service Award
Ari Silkey, general manager of Amazon Freight, received this award in recognition of his leadership, mentorship, and education of future leaders in private-sector freight transportation.
With more than two decades of experience in technology and transportation, Silkey has led transformative initiatives across multiple industries. As the previous general manager of Amazon North American Surface Transportation, Silkey led the design, building, and scaling of the award-winning transportation system. Over his career, Silkey has led the successful development and launch of more than 100 products that have positively impacted safety, productivity, and sustainability. He has also served on the Minnesota Governor’s Advisory Council on Connected and Automated Vehicles and is currently an Executive Committee board member of the Minneapolis Downtown Council.
Matthew J. Huber Student Award
Named in honor of the late Professor Emeritus Matthew J. Huber, this award is presented to University of Minnesota graduate students demonstrating outstanding academic achievement in engineering, science, and technology fields. Ethan Rossow, a master’s student in civil engineering, and Nastaran Tork, a doctoral candidate in civil engineering, received this year’s awards.
Mihai Marasteanu, professor and director of undergraduate studies in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering (CEGE) and Rossow's advisor, praised his commitment to the transportation field. Rossow has served as a teaching assistant, been active in various professional organizations, completed several internships, and worked with Marasteanu on a number of research projects investigating innovative pavement materials. "In [these] projects, Ethan has demonstrated excellent research skills and professionalism, and a level of rigor and dedication characteristic of advanced PhD students," Marasteanu said.
Alireza Khani, CEGE associate professor and Tork's advisor, said that she has demonstrated excellence in academics, leadership, and mentorship as well as in her research, which focuses on leveraging existing public mobility infrastructure to support last-mile package delivery. "Nastaran stands out as one of the most creative, disciplined, and impact-oriented scholars I have mentored," Khani said. "She approaches research not merely as an academic exercise, but as a vehicle for measurable, meaningful improvements in transportation systems and public outcomes."
John S. Adams Student Award
This award, named for the late Professor Emeritus John Adams, is presented to outstanding University of Minnesota students in the fields of policy and planning. This year’s award was presented to Cameron Kolbeck, a master’s student in urban and regional planning, and Xiaohuan Zeng, a doctoral candidate in geography.
Jason Cao, professor in the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, highlighted Kolbeck's academic rigor, strong research capabilities, and deep commitment to the transportation profession. "[In the classroom], he demonstrated not only a technical mastery of transit system planning but also a keen ability to navigate the complexities of policy implementation," Cao said. "Cameron has also made significant contributions to transportation research, demonstrating a sophisticated understanding of transportation challenges through two [transit-focused] research projects."
Ying Song, associate professor in the Department of Geography, Environment and Society, has served as Zeng's advisor since 2021, when she entered the geography program as a master's student. "Xiaohuan’s research lies at the intersection of transportation, human mobility, and geospatial data science. Her work focuses on leveraging emerging geospatial data and advanced computational methods to inform more inclusive and evidence-based transportation planning decisions," Song said. "[Her] scholarship is innovative, policy-relevant, and grounded in real-world collaboration."
Richard P. Braun Transportation Scholarship
This scholarship is awarded to University of Minnesota undergraduate students pursuing degrees related to transportation who have demonstrated academic merit and leadership skills. Luke Smeby, an undergraduate student in civil engineering, received this year's award.
Smeby has been preparing himself for a career in transportation through his coursework, internships with the Winona County Highway Department and Rani Engineering, and undergraduate research. "Luke is a motivated student and passionate about creating safe, sustainable, and efficient transportation systems," said Raphael Stern, CEGE associate professor and Smeby's research supervisor. Stern also described Smeby as a "resourceful and dedicated researcher," citing his development of a neural network that was capable of identifying the presence of bicycles in images, saving hundreds of hours of manual review.
Robert C. Johns Research Partnership Award
A team including individuals from the University of Minnesota, Minnesota Department of Transportation, the Federal Transit Administration, and Cambridge Systematics received this award for a project that evaluated a mobility-as-a-service pilot deployed in southern Minnesota. Learn more about the recipients and their research.
—CTS editorial staff
