ASPIRE Student Receives Prestigious Award for In-Motion Charging Research
Each year, the New Zealand Transportation Group offers awards and financial assistance for student researchers with exemplary research. This year, ASPIRE’s very own University of Auckland (UoA) Student Leadership Council (SLC) President Qihan Zhong was selected as the recipient of the prestigious 2026 ENZ Transportation Group Tertiary Study Award and associated grant.
“I applied for this award because it felt like a valuable opportunity to connect my Ph.D. research funded from the NZ Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) with the wider transport community in New Zealand,” said Zhong. “Receiving this award is both exciting and encouraging for me.”
This recognition highlights both the Zhong’s dedication and skills as a researcher, but also the importance and value of her research, entitled “The Development of Durable Wirelessly Charged In-Pavement Transport Systems.”
“As a Ph.D. student, research can often feel like a long process of gradual progress, so this kind of recognition means a great deal,” she said. “It gave me confidence that the work I am doing is relevant not only academically, but also to the wider transport engineering community in New Zealand.”
The award given by the Engineering NZ Transportation Group is especially meaningful, as this group has over 1,100 members dedicated to the advancement of technical knowledge, planning, and management for the movement of people and goods.
Zhong’s research, which will be presented at the 2027 Transportation Group Conference in Auckland, investigates the development of robust Inductive Power Transfer (IPT) roadway systems. She’s examining at how IPT pads can be embedded into pavements to allow for in-motion wireless charging for electric vehicles.
“In New Zealand, most of the road network relies on thin flexible pavements, which can be sensitive to heavy axle loads,” she said. “My research, therefore, looks at how IPT systems interact with the interface, pavement materials, and pavement structure, with the aim of developing a charging roadway system that supports both transport decarbonization and pavement durability.”
Of course, this research, which connects civil engineering, transport infrastructure, and electrification, isn’t conducted in isolation. According to Zhong, the guidance of her supervisor — Transport Engineering Associate Professor Doug Wilson — and the entire UoA IPT team’s supportive research environment helped shape her award-winning proposal.
Zhong believes that the IPT research effectively complements the work she does at ASPIRE, and that this award will allow that expertise to spread to a wider audience.
“Recognition like this helps create more awareness that transport electrification is not only about vehicles themselves, but also about the infrastructure systems that support them,” she said. “For me, it reinforces the value of contributing to research that can help shape safer, more efficient, and more practical transport solutions for the future.”
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About ASPIRE:
ASPIRE, a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center headquartered at Utah State University, leads groundbreaking research and development to accelerate electrification. With over 400 global collaborators, ASPIRE focuses on creating seamless, affordable electrified transportation systems, accessible for all vehicle classes, along with the public infrastructure needed to support them. By reducing emissions, improving air quality, and fostering economic growth through job creation and workforce training, ASPIRE’s work spans engineering, social science, policy, and business. Partnering with top universities, industry leaders, and community groups, ASPIRE is driving the future of advanced transportation. Learn more at aspire.usu.edu.
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