Research

At 30,000 feet, my research aims to make emerging technologies such as AI deployable and actually deployed in roadway intelligent transportation systems to improve traffic efficiency, safety, sustainability, etc. From another perspective, I strive to bridge the gap between physical systems (roadway infrastructure, vehicles) and computational processes (analysis, observation, control, and optimization) for physical systems, a concept known as cyber-physical systems. VU-ISIS is a world-leading research institute in cyber-physical systems, and it is my honor to be part of it.

My current research specifically focuses on how to use AI, such as reinforcement learning (RL), to optimize real-world traffic signals. As of now, I am working on upgrading a real traffic signal to be controlled by RL. Stay tuned for more progress on this project!

During the last three years, I was very fortunate to be involved in building the world’s first AI (i.e., RL) based variable speed limit (VSL) system located on Interstate 24 southeast of Nashville, TN, USA. I was a main contributor in developing the AI Decision Support System and participated in designing the RL algorithm. I learned a ton about the ITS deployment challenges from this project. And BTW, see, this is a cyber-physical system!

I received enormous help from our industrial collaborators, including (alphabetically) Arcadis, Miovision, Southwest Research Institute, and Stantec. That confirms for me the significance of academia-industry collaborations and encourages me to extend my connections further.

See my full publication record at Google Scholar.