Thursday, May 12, 2022 @ 12:00PM (EDT)
About the Webinar:
Advances in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) technology make possible their use in monitoring traffic conditions along a freeway segment and detecting congestion due to traffic incidents or recurring congestion. Different from existing fixed sensors, UAS are mobile sensors that can be deployed flexibly along roadway segments and capture more detailed traffic conditions. With efficient algorithms developed for processing and analyzing collected traffic data, it can reduce incident response and clearance time, alleviate secondary crashes, and mitigate congestion. The webinar will present the efforts of implement such technologies and discuss lessons learned during the Phase 2 of the project titled: Freeway Incident Detection and Management using Unmanned Aircraft Systems, a collaborative research project between the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez (UPRM) and the University of South Florida (USF).
About the Presenters:
Yu Zhang, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida and leads the Smart Urban Mobility Laboratory at USF. Dr. Zhang develops mathematical programming and optimization solutions, simulation tools, econometric and statistical models, and machine learning/deep learning methods for obtaining innovative solutions for more resilient, efficient, and sustainable multimodal transportation systems. Her recent efforts focus on emerging services and technologies in transportation, including Advanced Air Mobility and ACES transportation. Dr. Zhang has published nearly 70 papers in top transportation journals and serves as an associate editor for Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment. She also serves on the editorial board of Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, and Journal of Air Transport Management. Dr. Zhang serves as the chair of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Airfield and Airspace Performance (AV060) committee (Apr. 2017 – Present) and as the President of the Women in Transportation Seminar (WTS) Tampa Bay Chapter (Jan. 2020 – Present). Dr. Zhang holds Ph.D. and M.S. from the University of California, Berkeley in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a bachelor’s degree from Southeast University of China in transportation engineering.
Ivette Cruzado, Ph.D., is a professor in the Civil Engineering and Surveying Department of the University of Puerto at Mayaguez (UPRM), where she teaches transportation engineering-related courses. She has a doctoral degree in civil engineering from Penn State University (where she also obtained a minor in statistics), a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Michigan State University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from UPRM. Dr. Cruzado was the associate dean of research in the engineering faculty and the Principal Investigator at UPRM of a UTC focused on Big-Data in Transportation. Currently, Dr. Cruzado serves as the Coordinator of the Research Academy for Faculty and Postdoctoral Fellows at UPRM and she is also co-advisor of the UPRM student chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE).
Achilleas Kourtellis, Ph.D., is a senior research associate and the assistant director of the Intelligent Transportation Systems, Traffic Operations, and Safety program at the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at the University of South Florida. He has been with CUTR for more than 10 years and worked on several traffic safety projects and for different sponsors including USDOT, FDOT, FHWA, FTA, NHTSA, NICR, and NCTR. He has conducted studies in evaluating safety-related technologies with data collection for rail transit bus, large trucks, passenger vehicles, motorcycles, pedestrians, and bicycles. He has also developed survey instruments and conducted research to improve traffic safety. He has served as principal and co-principal investigator on more than 30 projects and currently serves as the co-PI on the project presented in the webinar.
Joseph Post is visiting professor of practice in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida. He has a bachelor’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from M.I.T., a master’s degree in engineering and applied science from Yale University, and a master’s degree in economics from George Mason University. Mr. Post has held various leadership positions at the Federal Aviation Administration, most recently as Acting Director of Systems Engineering. He has also worked at the Congressional Budget Office, the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), TRW, The CNA Corporation, and Sikorsky Aircraft. Mr. Post is co-inventor of three patents relating to helicopter flight controls and holds FAA commercial and remote pilot certificates.
Recording
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