Hesham A. Rakha, Ph.D., P.Eng., F.ASCE, FAAIA, FIEEE, FCAE

In addition to serving as the Samuel Reynolds Pritchard Professor of Engineering in the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a Courtesy Professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dr. Rakha directs the Center for Sustainable Mobility at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. 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 control of connected automated vehicles (CAVs)) to enhance their efficiency and reduce their energy consumption while ensuring their safety. A key component of these control algorithms are the tools needed to predict the system evolution while capturing the inherent stochasticity in the system. In this area, Dr. Rakha and his team develop and apply modeling, artificial intelligence, and statistical techniques to predict the spatiotemporal evolution of the system. Additionally, 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 sections of 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, one of Dr. Rakha’s distinctive technical contributions is in the area of transportation energy modeling and optimization. Specifically, he and his team have 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. 

Dr. Rakha is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA), a Professional Engineer in Ontario, and a World's Top Industry Scientist in the International Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance (AIIA). He is an Editor for Sensors (the Intelligent Sensors Section), a Senior Editor for the IEEE Transactions of Intelligent Transportation Systems and an Associate Editor and the Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems: Technology, Planning and Operations and the SAE International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, Energy, Environment, & Policy.  Furthermore, he is on the Editorial Board of the Transportation Letters: The International Journal of Transportation Research, the IET Intelligent Transport Systems Journal, and the International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology.

• Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, Civil Engineering (Honors), B.Sc. (1987).

• Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, Civil and Environmental Engineering, M.Sc. (1990). Thesis Title "An Evaluation of the Benefits of User and System Optimized Route Guidance Strategies."

• Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Ph.D. (1993). Dissertation Title “A Simulation Approach for Modeling Real-Time Traffic Signal Controls.” 

• Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, Civil Engineering, Postdoctorate (1993~95).

• Samuel Reynolds Pritchard Professor of Engineering, Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, April 2014~Present.

• Courtesy Professor, Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, May 2014~Present.

• Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, June 2007~April 2014.

• Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Aug. 2003~June 2007.

• Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1999~2003.

• Director, Center for Sustainable Mobility, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, Aug. 2004~Present.

• Leader, Transportation Systems and Operations Group, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, Aug. 1999~Aug. 2004.

• Research Scientist, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, Sept. 1997~Aug. 1999.

• Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Queen’s University, Sept. 1995~Sept. 1997.

• Transportation Systems Analyst, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Sept. 1995~Sept. 1997.

• Project Manager, M. Van Aerde & Associates Ltd., Sept. 1993~Sept. 1997. 

• Editor, Sensors, Intelligent Sensors Section.

• Senior Editor, IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems.

• Academic Editor (2018~2022), Journal of Advanced Transportation.

• Associate Editor, SAE International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, Energy, Environment, & Policy. 

• Associate Editor, Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems: Technology, Planning and Operations.

• Editorial Board, Transportation Letters: The International Journal of Transportation Research, IET Intelligent Transport Systems Journal, and the International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology.

• Associate Editor (2012-2021), IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems. 

• Editor, Special Issue of IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems (2006).

• Editor, Special Issue of Journal of Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering on Traffic Computational Models (2006).

• Program Committee Member, 8th International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems, VEHITS 2022, April 27-29, 2022, Prague, Czech Republic. 

• Program Committee Member, 10th International Conference on Advances in Vehicular Systems, Technologies and Applications, VEHICULAR 2021, July 18-22, 2021, Nice, France.

• Associate Editor, 32nd IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan, July 11-15, 2021.

• Associate Editor, 16th IFAC Symposium on Control in Transportation Systems, Lille, France, June 8-11, 2021.

• Program Committee Member, 21st IEEE International Conference on Autonomous Robot Systems and Competitions (ICARSC2021), Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal, April 28-29, 2021.

• Associate Editor, 23rd IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference, September 20-23, 2020, Rhodes, Greece.

• Associate Editor, 2020 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium (IV) (IV 2020), June 23-26, 2020, Las Vegas, NV, USA.

• International Program Committee Member, 6th International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems, VEHITS 2020, May 2-4, 2020, Prague, Czech Republic.

• Associate Editor, IEEE Forum on Integrated and Sustainable Transportation Systems (ISTS), June 30 - July 2, 2020, Delft, The Netherlands.

• Associate Editor, 22nd IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference, October 27 - 30, 2019, Auckland, New Zealand.

• Associate Editor, 2019 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium (IV) (IV2019), June 9-12, Paris, France.

• Scientific Committee Member, 6th IEEE International Conference on Models and Technologies for Intelligent Transportation Systems, June 5-7, 2019, Krakow, Poland.

• International Program Committee Member, 5th International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems, VEHITS 2019, May 3-5, 2019, Crete, Greece.

• Associate Editor, 21st IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference, November 4 - 7, 2018, Hawaii, USA.

• Associate Editor, IEEE Intelligent Vehicle Symposium, June 26 - July 1, 2018, Changshu, Suzhou, China.

• Scientific Committee Member, 7th International Conference on Advances in Vehicular Systems, Technologies and Applications, VEHICULAR 2018, June 24-28, 2018, Venice, Italy.

• International Program Committee Member, 15th IFAC Symposium on Control in Transportation Systems (CTS2018), June 6-8, 2018, Genoa, Italy.

• International Program Committee Member, 4th International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems, VEHITS 2018, March 16-18, 2018, Madeira, Portugal.

• Associate Editor, 20th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), Oct. 16-19, 2017, Yokohama, Japan.

• Scientific Committee Member, Sixth International Conference on Advances in Vehicular Systems, Technologies and Applications, VEHICULAR 2017, July 23-27, 2017, Nice, France.

• Associate Editor, IEEE International Conference on Vehicular Electronics and Safety (IEEE ICVES'17), June 27-29, 2017, Vienna, Austria.

• Scientific Committee Member, 5th IEEE International Conference on Models and Technologies for Intelligent Transportation Systems, June 26-28, 2017, Naples, Italy.

• Associate Editor, IEEE Intelligent Vehicle Symposium, June 11-14, 2017, Redondo Beach, CA, USA.

• Scientific Committee Member, 19th EURO Working Group on Transportation Meeting, Sept. 5-7, 2016, Istanbul, Turkey.

• Associate Editor, 19th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), Nov. 1-4, 2016, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

• Associate Editor, IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium, June 19-22, 2016, Gothenburg, Sweden.

• Associate Editor, 18th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), Sept. 15-18, 2015, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.

• Associate Editor, 16th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), Oct. 4-9, 2013, The Hague, The Netherlands.

• Conference Chairperson, Conference on “Agent-Based Modeling in Transportation Planning and Operations,” Blacksburg, Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 2013.

• Associate Editor, 15th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), Sept. 17-20, 2012, Anchorage, Alaska, USA.

• Associate Editor, 14th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), Sept. 17-20, 2011, Washington DC, USA.

• Co-Chair, 13th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), Sept. 17-20, 2010, Madiera, Portugal.

• Editor, 9th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), Sept. 17-20, 2006, Toronto, Canada.

• Associate Editor, 8th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), Sept. 13-16, 2005, Vienna, Austria.

• Associate Editor, 7th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), October 3-6, 2004, Washington D.C., USA.

• Fellow (M’04, SM’18, F’20), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

• Member, Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO).

• Member, Egyptian Syndicate of Engineers (No. 281/14).

• Member, Transportation Research Board (TRB).

• Member, Transportation Research Board Committee on Air Quality.

• Member, Transportation Research Board AHB40 Committee on Capacity and Quality of Service

• Former Member, Transportation Research Board Committee on Traffic Flow Theory & Characteristics (AHB45).

• Member, ITS America Benefits Evaluation and Cost Committee.

• Friend, Transportation Research Board Committee on Highway Capacity and Quality of Service (AHB40).

• Friend, Transportation Research Board Committee on Artificial Intelligence (ABJ70).

• Canadian Academy of Engineering Fellow (FCAE), 2023.

• World's Top Industry Scientist, International Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance (AIIA), 2023.

• Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association Fellow (FAAIA), 2023.

•  Best Paper Award (2023), 9th International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems (VEHITS), Prague, Czech Republic.

• Dean's Award for Excellence in Research (2023), College of Engineering at Virginia Tech.

• Most Cited Article Award (2023), International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology (IJTST) for paper Du, J.; Rakha, H.A.; Filali, F.; Eldardiry, H. COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts on Traffic System Delay, Fuel Consumption and Emissions. International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijtst.2020.11.003. 

• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Fellow, 2022.

• Davis Miller Memorial Prize: Best Paper Presented at ATRF 2022 by a Young Researcher, Australian Transport Research Forum 2022, Adelaide, Australia, September 28-30. 

• IEEE ITS Outstanding Research Award (2021), IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society. 

• First Place, IEEE ITSC 2020 UAS4T Competition. 

• IEEE Fellow (Class of 2020) for contributions to optimization, modeling and assessment of transportation systems.

• User Information Systems (AND20) 2019 Best Paper Award, Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington DC, January 12-16, 2020.

• Best Paper Award (2018), 4th International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems (VEHITS), Madeira, Portugal, March 15-18.

• Most Cited Article Award (2018), International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology (IJTST) for the paper: Rakha H., Ahn K., and Moran K., (2012), "INTEGRATION Framework for Modeling Eco-routing Strategies: Logic and Preliminary Results," International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology, Vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 259-274.

• Best Paper Award (2016), 2nd International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems (VEHITS), Rome, Italy.

• Best Scientific Paper Award (2013), 20th ITS World Congress, Tokyo, Japan.

• Best Scientific Paper Award (2012), 19th ITS World Congress, Vienna, Austria.

• Best Paper Award in the TRB Truck and Bus Safety Committee (2011), Transportation Research Board Meeting, Washington DC, USA.

• Dean's Award for Excellence in Research (2007), College of Engineering at Virginia Tech.

• Faculty Fellow Award (2004~2006), College of Engineering at Virginia Tech.

• Dean's Award for Outstanding New Professor (2002), College of Engineering at Virginia Tech.

• Queen's Graduate Fellowship (1991~1993), Queen's University.

• McLaughlin Award (1990), Queen's University.

• Ontario Graduate Scholarship (1989), Queen’s University.

• Dean's Award (1988), Queen's University.

• Civil Engineering Excellence Award (1982~1987), Cairo University.