Research Assistant @ Build America Center

The Build America Center (BAC) will mobilize the use of innovative finance, funding, and project delivery solutions to foster new approaches to transportation infrastructure development projects. In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Transportation, the BAC will lead cutting-edge research, deliver innovative training, and provide customized technical assistance in support of the Implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

PEER-REVIEWED / PUBLISHED JOURNAL ARTICLES

J3.  Zhang, K., Shaheen, Q. H., Halimi, Z., & Cui, Q. (2026). Distributional Patterns and Comparative Insights from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Transport Policy, 104424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2026.104424 

J2.  Zhang, K., Shaheen, Q. H., & Cui, Q. (2026). Understanding structured project finance for US transportation public-private partnerships: What maximizes financing capacity? Built Environment Project and Asset Management, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1108/BEPAM-07-2025-0217

J1. Shaheen, Q. H., Erfani, A., Mohammed, M. Y., Zhen, D., & Cui, Q. (2026). ChatGPT as a Training Coach: Pattern-Specific Outcomes in Build America Buy America Act Training. Journal of Management in Engineering, 42(4), 04026012. https://doi.org/10.1061/JMENEA.MEENG-7190

MANUSCRIPTS UNDER REVIEW / REVISION / DEVELOPMENT

R4. Shaheen, Q. H., Zhang, K., Beydoun, O., and Cui, Q. Unlocking Opportunity Zones for Transportation Infrastructure. Submitted to the Transportation Research Board 107th Annual Meeting (presentation and publication), Manuscript No. TRBAM-27-01654 — under review.

R3. Cui, Q., Johnson, J., Hamid, A., Shaheen, Q. H., and Zhang, K. Development and Formative Validation of an Agile Project Development and Delivery Decision-Support Tool for Transportation Infrastructure. Submitted to the Transportation Research Board 107th Annual Meeting (presentation), Manuscript No. TRBAM-27-03526 — under review.

R2. Shaheen, Q. H., Zhang, K., and Cui, Q. Value for Money by Design: The Case of I-66 Express Lanes. ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management — Revise for Re-Review.

R1. Shaheen, Q. H., Qiu, Y., and Cui, Q. The Power (and Limits) of Design in State Infrastructure Banks: Evidence from Legal Structure, Institutional Capacity, and Configurational Analysis. Submitted for TRR currently under review.

ASCE/IEEE_CONFERENCE PAPERS / PROCEEDINGS

C4. Zhou, H., Duan, N., Shaheen, Q. H., & Cui, Q. (2026). Data-Driven Assessment of Long-Term Bidding Behavior in Construction Firms. Construction Research Congress 2026, 529–538. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784486962.051

C3. Shaheen, Q. H., Zhou, H., & Cui, Q. (2026). AI-Augmented Cost Estimation in Highway Projects: A Proof of Concept for State DOTs. Construction Research Congress 2026, 209–218. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784486962.021

C2. Shaheen, Q. H., Jiang, N., & Cui, Q. (2026). Decision-Support Agent for SIB Legislation and Rulemaking. In International Conference on Transportation and Development 2026 (pp. 1015–1026). https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784487020.089

C1. H. I. Ashqar, Q. H. Q. Shaheen, S. A. Ashur and H. A. Rakha, "Impact of risk factors on work zone crashes using logistic models and Random Forest," 2021 IEEE International Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference (ITSC), Indianapolis, IN, USA, 2021, pp. 1815-1820, https://doi.org/10.1109/ITSC48978.2021.9564405.

SELECTED TECHNICAL REPORTS AND APPLIED RESEARCH

NCHRP Project 20-24(144), Enhancing State DOTs’ Agility in Project Development and Delivery — Research team member and coauthor; one of a seven-member team that executed the project using Agile/Scrum methodology (sprint planning, backlog management, iterative review cycles). Focused on the research program and decision-support tool development, delivered the closing project presentation to the National Academies, and prepared the final report. Contributed to framework development, technique classification, pilot testing, practitioner validation, and implementation guidance for an integrated Agile PDD decision-support tool.

Build America Center — State Infrastructure Bank (SIB) Technical Assistance — Supported the establishment of two State Infrastructure Banks: one housed within the Nebraska Department of Transportation, and one housed within a Louisiana state government office. Work spanned enabling legislation and rulemaking, institutional and governance design, and capitalization strategy; including the Nebraska SIB Capitalization Plan implementing LB 1126, the Infrastructure Development Investment Program Act, with a phased blend of state appropriations, Federal-aid funds, LB 1126 bonding authority, and TIFIA, plus loan pricing, reserve, and revolving mechanics, peer-state benchmarking against Ohio and Florida, and an implementation action plan through program launch. Also produced draft SIB enabling legislation, capitalization plan for NDOT SIB, and SIB marketing playbook development, webinars, and state.

AccelerateMC / Montgomery County FLASH Bus Rapid Transit (Build America Bureau Regional Infrastructure Accelerator) — Research team member responsible for the value capture analysis addressing the BRT program's capital funding gap. Built a 20-year tax increment financing (TIF) cash-flow model — base and incremental assessed value, growth and capture-rate assumptions, and station-area revenue projections — and evaluated special assessment district (SAD) and related value capture mechanisms against the program-level financing gap. Also contributed to the crowdfunding strategy (donation, sponsorship, mini-bond, and community-equity models, benchmarked against the Prince George's County Blueprint Schools Community Equity Investment Program) and to the program's reporting deliverables, including the RIA case study report and best-practices report covering funding-versus-financing strategy, delivery method assessment, risk management, third-party agreements, and implementation planning.

MDOT SHA Supervisor’s Handbook and Digital Resource (Maryland State Highway Administration RFP #07) — Prepared the winning research proposal and led the grant application that brought the award to the University of Maryland; now leading the research effort. Scope covers the literature review on supervisor skills, engagement, and retention; analysis of current SHA practices and skill gaps; external benchmarking; practitioner surveys and workshops; and specifications for an intranet/SharePoint-hosted digital knowledge hub and a periodically updated hard-copy handbook, delivered with a final report and executive summary.

Unlocking Opportunity Zones for Transportation Infrastructure — Research coordinator and lead author of a three-plus-month research effort under faculty supervision, contributing most of the analysis and writing. Produced the July 2026 white paper and subsequently developed it into a Transportation Research Board manuscript (TRBAM-27-01654, under review). Research covered the Opportunity Zone statutory and regulatory framework under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Qualified Opportunity Fund and QOZB structuring, why OZ equity has concentrated in vertical real estate rather than transportation, screening tests for the active trade-or-business requirement, and project typologies, capital stacking approaches, P3 structures, and value capture strategies — with case illustrations moving projects from policy eligibility to financial feasibility.

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