T-ITS Editorial Board Member

Hesham A. Rakha is the Samuel Reynolds Pritchard Professor of Engineering in the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, a Courtesy Professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and directs the Center for Sustainable Mobility at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. He holds a B.Sc. degree in Civil and Engineering from Cairo University (1987), M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Queens University, Kingston, Ontario in 1990 and 1993, respectively. His research focuses on large-scale transportation system optimization, modeling and assessment. He works on optimizing transportation system operations, including vehicle routing, developing various network and traffic signal control algorithms, developing freeway control strategies (speed harmonization and ramp metering), and optimizing vehicle motion (lateral and longitudinal) to reduce their energy consumption while ensuring their safety. Dr. Rakha and his researchers apply machine-learning techniques, as needed, in the development of the control systems that can adapt to the dynamic changes in the surrounding environment. In the area of large-scale transportation system modeling, Dr. Rakha and his researchers have expanded the domain of knowledge (in traveler and driver behavior modeling) and developed a suite of multi-modal agent-based transportation modeling tools, including the INTEGRATION microscopic traffic simulation software. This software was used to evaluate the first dynamic route guidance system, TravTek in Orlando, Florida; to model the Greater Salt Lake City area in preparation for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games; to model Beijing in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games; to optimize and evaluate the performance of alternative traveler incentive strategies to reduce network-wide energy consumption in the Greater Los Angeles area; and to develop and test an Eco-Cooperative Automated Control (Eco-CAC) system. In the area of transportation system assessment, Dr. Rakha and his researchers continue to develop the theory and models needed to quantify the efficiency, safety, energy, and environmental impacts of these systems. In this domain, Dr. Rakhas distinctive technical contributions is in the area of transportation energy modeling and optimization. Specifically, he has developed various vehicle energy and fuel consumption models that are used world-wide to assess the energy and environmental impacts of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) applications and emerging Connected Automated Vehicle (CAV) systems. The models include the VT-Micro, VT-Meso, the Virginia Tech Comprehensive Fuel consumption Model (VT-CPFM), the VT-CPEM, and the VT-CPHEM models. He is an IEEE Fellow and the author/coauthor of 5 books, 228 refereed journal publications, and 257 refereed conference publications. He has over 14,750 citations (Google Scholar) and an h-index of 60.

1. Traffic Flow Modeling and Control2. Connected/Automated Vehicle Control 3. Vehicle Energy Consumption and Emission Modeling 4. Transportation System Safety Modeling