Academy of Distinguished Alumni

  • Alumni Image #1:
  • Image Caption Title #1: Interchange Construction
  • Image Caption #1: In the 1990’s, straight out of graduate school, Flanagan spent four years planning and designing an interchange on I-35 in Kansas. She currently Erin leads and manages research and analyses projects related to state and federal transportation programs in the the U.S.
  • Alumni Image #2:
  • Image Caption Title #2: Large Scale Intelligent Transportation Systems
  • Image Caption #2: As Principal at Cambridge Systematics, Inc., Flanigan is a leader in research and analysis of transportation operations, intelligent transportation systems, and planning/program development. In 2008, she led a study to develop a Report to Congress on the feasibility of installing fiber optic cabling and wireless communication infrastructure along multistate Interstate System Corridors for improved communications services to rural communities.
headshot of Erin Flanigan

erinflanigan web

Erin J. Flanigan

M.S., University of Texas at Austin, 1994
B.S., Purdue University, 1987

A pacesetter in transportation engineering, Erin Flanigan leads and manages research and analyses projects related to state and federal transportation programs in the U.S.  Her project experience includes large-scale intelligent transportation systems deployment projects, including a 600+ signal system integration and corridor deployments utilizing closed-circuit television, fiber optic communications and dynamic message signs.

Flanigan earned a master's degree under the supervision of Dr. C. Michael Walton. Since her graduation in 1994, she has recognized and exercised the needs and benefits of giving back to the university.

After graduation, Flanigan spent four years planning and designing an interchange on IH-35 in Kansas. She was later a manager of ITS services at TransSystems Corporation, where she was responsible for ITS-related development and projects. She was also the project manager of the Kansas Statewide ITS Plan, which won a national “best of” award at the ITS America Annual Meeting. 

She joined Cambridge Systematic, an independent transportation consultancy firm, in 2006 and was promoted to principal a year later. Currently, she spends most of her workday managing a $100 million contract for the Federal Highway Administration. 

She has also worked closely with the State departments of transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, the National Academy of Sciences, the Transportation Research Board, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and the National Highway Institute on various technical, research and planning efforts. 

Flanigan has remained actively engaged with the department, regularly mentoring students and serving four and a half years on the CAEE External Advisory Committee. She was also one of the founders of the Transportation Engineering Endowed Excellence fund and is now the external principal of this important fund that provides program support to the department.