AASHTO Journal - Caltrans’ Chernioglo Wins AASHTOWare Award

Igor Chernioglo, P.E. (above) – a transportation engineer with the California Department of Transportation – recently received a Prismatic Legacy Award for his work on behalf of AASHTOWare.

[Above image by AASHTO]

AASHTOWare, a division of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, offers a suite of transportation software products delivered through a collaborative business model with state departments of transportation across the country.

Volunteers from those state DOTs are intricately involved in the decision-making processes regarding AASHTOWare products; providing expert advice and insight that makes AASHTOWare’s software suite unique in the transportation industry.

To recognize and honor the valuable role state DOT volunteers play in its software development work, AASHTOWare created the Prismatic Legacy Award, bestowed on one volunteer across the AASHTOWare product line three times per year.

Chernioglo has been an AASHTOWare Bridge Design and Rating volunteer for seven years, becoming part of several Technical Advisory Groups or TAGs since 2018. In 2019 and 2020, he worked with fellow state DOT volunteers and AASHTOWare’s developers to create an Analysis Results Comparison or “ARC tool” for the AASHTOWare Bridge Design and Rating or BrDR software package.

“This tool gives users ability to analyze a large batch of bridges instead of each bridge individually and view the results for all bridges, or compare results from two versions of the software or specifications” Chernioglo said. “It’s a huge time saver and allows agencies to quickly verify a newer version of the software or check what difference a spec change will have on their ratings.”

As an AASHTOWare volunteer, Cherniogolo explained that he enjoys working alongside his fellow state DOT volunteers toward common goals and also gets insights to how other states are using this software.

“I definitely recommend volunteering,” he emphasized. “When you are a volunteer for AASHTOWare, you get your voice heard; you have an impact on nationally-used software that plays a big role in the safety of our bridges across the country. It’s also about addressing common needs. Sure, you could create a solution on your own. Or, you could come together, pool all of your resources, and come up with one software package that has a big cost savings for everyone.”

“We created the Prismatic Award specifically to honor the dedication of all the hardworking volunteers like Igor Chernioglo,” noted Keith Platte, director of AASHTOWare. “He goes above and beyond to help the AASHTOWare products for the greater good of all state DOTs.”