Build America Center
University of Maryland Operates the Build America Center
Center advances innovative transportation project financing and delivery in partnership with leading academic institutions
in 2022, the U.S. Transportation awarded a $5 million grant to the University of Maryland (UMD) through a cooperative agreement to establish and manage the “Build America Center.” The Center offers educational programs, information, and resources for transportation agencies in all areas of alternative and innovative project financing and delivery.
The $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes unprecedented funding for infrastructure projects and several grant programs to support project sponsors seeking to explore alternative project delivery. The Center will support the Build America Bureau and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to foster new approaches to financing development and transformation of the nation’s transportation infrastructure into a modern system.
The University of Maryland will serve as the national lead for this new center contributing a 20 percent match to the grant, with four universities - Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Purdue, and Stanford - serving as regional leads. Through programming, research initiatives and publications, the centers partner with alumni, business leaders and local governments to educate the community and provide students with enrichment experiences that facilitate their professional development.
UMD professor Qingbin Cui, an expert in transportation engineering and highway financing, will lead the endeavor, which also leverages UMD resources such as the Maryland Transportation Institute (MTI), the Center for Advanced Transportation Technology (CATT), the Center for Transportation Technology Lab (CATT Lab), and the Project Management Center of Excellence.
To learn more about the Build America Center, visit BAC.umd.edu.
The Build America Institute, established in 2014, was recently sunset.