Tae J. Kwon, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Associate Professor, Transportation Engineering
Department of Civil & Env. Engineering, University of Alberta
6-281 Donadeo Innovation Center for Engineering,
9211-116 Street NW, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 1H9
E-mail: tjkwon@ualberta.ca | Tel: +1.780.492.6121
Department Website: https://apps.ualberta.ca/directory/person/tjkwon
About Dr. Tae J. Kwon
Dr. Tae J. Kwon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta. He joined the faculty in 2016, shortly after earning his award-winning Ph.D. degree from the University of Waterloo.
Dr. Kwon’s research explores location and system optimization for intelligent transportation system facilities using advanced heuristics, winter transportation and road maintenance, geographic information sciences, remote sensing in transportation, and spatial and temporal analyses of road traffic and safety, geostatistics, deep learning, and explainable AI.
In 2019, he received the Great Supervisor Award from the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research for his exemplary supervisory and scholarly contributions. In 2020, he was the sole recipient of the Faculty of Engineering Early-Career Research Award, recognizing his research excellence and influence at both national and international levels. Recently, Dr. Kwon was awarded the 2024 ITS Canada Excellence in Research and Development Award by Intelligent Transportation Systems Canada for his pioneering work in AI-powered road conditions monitoring and forecasting.
Dr. Kwon currently serves on several international committees, notably as a standing member and communication coordinator of the TRB Road Weather Committee (AKR50). He is also a Standing Committee Member for the World Road Association (PIARC) Technical Committee 3.2 – Winter Service (Strategic Theme 3: Safety and Sustainability). His research has attracted support from diverse sponsors, including NSERC Discovery and Alliance Grants, Alberta Transportation, Iowa Department of Transportation, Maine Department of Transportation, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc., the Aurora Program, the City of Edmonton, Alberta EcoTrust, and CIMA+.
Research Interests
Dr. Tae J. Kwon's research focuses on the application of state-of-the-art geomatics and advanced (geo-)statistical methods and techniques, on evaluation and optimization of complex transportation service systems, and on the development of various decision support tools for administering and managing these systems. Dr. Kwon is particularly interested in exploring ways to effectively integrate GIS and satellite RS to the field of winter transportation research. Dr. Kwon's main research areas are as follows:
Transportation and geographic information science
Winter transportation engineering (winter road maintenance)
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
Applications of big data for estimation and forecasting of road and traffic conditions
Spatial and temporal analyses of road traffic and safety
Traffic and transportation system optimization
Winter road surface conditions classification/predictions via deep learning
Awards and Accolades
2024 ITS CANADA Excellence in Research and Development Award, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Canada
2024 KOFST Scientist of the Year Award, Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies (KOFST), Republic of Korea
Faculty of Engineering Nominee for Petro Canada's Emerging Innovator Award, Suncor Engergy Inc.
2021 AKCSE Early Achievement Award, Association of Korean Canadian Scientists & Engineers (AKCSE)
2020 Early Career Research Award, Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta
2019 Great Supervisor Award, Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Alberta
Early Career Researcher Award, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta (3 times)
UW Doctoral Thesis Award, Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Waterloo
NSERC-UW Graduate Scholarships, Faculty of Engineering, University of Waterloo (2 times)
Departmental Graduate Students Award, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo (6 times)
International Doctor of Philosophy Student Award, Faculty of Engineering, University of Waterloo
Graduate Studies Excellence Award - MSc Category, University of Waterloo (3 times)
Winner of the Institute of Transportation Engineer (ITE) Presentation Competition, Toronto, Ontario
Teaching
Undergraduate:
[CivE 240] Technical Communications - Transportation Discipline RFP, Winter '17, '18, '19
[CivE 315] Transportation Engineering I, Winter '21
[CivE 411] Transportation Engineering II, Fall '18, '21
[CivE 419] Transportation Engineering: Planning and Design, Winter '17, '18
Graduate:
[CivE 612] Transportation Planning: Methods and Techniques, Fall '16, '17, '18, '19, '20, '21
[CivE 719] Geographic Information Systems for Transportation, Winter '18, '19, '20, '21, '22
Professional Activities
Standing Committee Member, World Road Associate (PIARC) Technical Committee 3.2 Winter Service (Strategic Theme 3: Safety and Sustainability), March 2025 – present
Standing Committee Member, TRB Road Weather Committee – AKR50, January 2022 – present
Committee Communication Coordinator (CCC), TRB Road Weather Committee – AKR50, January 2022 – present
Academic Leadership Team Committee, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, November 2023 – present
Student Activities Co-Chair of the 27th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems, September 24-27, 2024
Faculty Representative, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, Edmonton Section. July 2017 – May 2022.
Curriculum Review Committee Member, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, January 2019 – June 2022.
Transportation Research Group Coordinator, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta (January 2018 – June 2022.
Guest Editor of the Special Issue on Urbanization and Sustainable Road Safety, Sustainability https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/Urbanization_Road_Safety (ISSN 2071-1050; CODEN: SUSTDE), MDPI. 05/2020 – 04/2021
Standing Committee Member, TRB Surface Transportation Weather Research Group – AH010, January 2016 – December 2021
Committee Communication Coordinator (CCC), TRB Surface Transportation Weather Research Group – AH010, January 2016 – December 2021
Academic Planning Committee, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, 06/2017 – 07/2018
Co-chair of the 2018 International Conference on Transportation Innovation. University of Alberta (Sept 6-7th 2018)
Transportation Research Board (TRB) Paper Review Committee (AH010) (2017/2018)
Co-lecturer, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON. (05/2015 – 08/2015)
Lecturer, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON. (05/2014 – 08/2014)
Co-lecturer, Data for Performance Measurement. Professional Development Workshop, CSCE, Edmonton, AB. (06/2012)
Scholarly Publications
Refereed Archival Journal and Book Chapter
Xu, S., and Kwon, T.J. (2020) Optimizing Snowplow Routes using All-New Perspectives: Road Users and Winter Road Maintenance Operators. Accepted for publication at the Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, July 2020. DOI:10.1139/cjce-2019-0768
Simita, B., and Kwon, T.J. (2020) Developing Statewide Optimal RWIS Density Guidelines using Space-Time Semivariogram Models. Accepted for publication at the Journal of Sensors, May 2020.
Kwon, T.J. and Fu., L. (2020). Performance Evaluation of Road Surface Temperature Forecasts. Accepted for publication at the Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, May 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjce-2019-0772
Wu, M., El-Basyouny, K., and Kwon, T.J (2020). Before-and-After Empirical Bayes Evaluation of Citywide Installation of Driver Feedback Signs. Accepted for publication at the Journal of the Transportation Research Board. Feb. 2020.
Wu, M., El-Basyouny, K., and Kwon, T.J. (2020). Lessons learned from the large-scale Application of Driver Feedback Sings in an Urban City. Accepted for publication at the Journal of Transportation Safety and Security. Feb 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/19439962.2020.1726546
Kwon, T.J. and Fu., L. (2020). Performance Evaluation of Road Surface Temperature Forecasts. Accepted for publication at the Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, May 2020. DOI: 10.1139/cjce-2019-0772
Gu, L., Wu, M., and Kwon, T.J. (2019). An Enhanced Spatial Statistical Method for Continuous Monitoring of Winter Road Surface Conditions. Accepted for publication at the Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering. In press.
Biswas, S., Wu, M., Kwon, T.J., and Melles, S.J. (2019). Use of Topography, Weather zones & Semivariogram Parameters to Optimize RWIS Station Density Across Large Spatial Scales. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, National Research Council. Washington D.C. DOI: 10.1177/0361198119846467
Gu, L., Kwon, T.J., and Qiu, T.Z. (2019). A Geostatistical Approach to Winter Road Surface Condition Estimation using Mobile RWIS Data. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering. 46(6): 511-521, https://doi.org/10.1139/cjce-2018-0341
Wang, X., Gu, L., Kwon, T.J., and Qiu, Z. (2019). A Geostatistical Investigation into the Effective Spatiotemporal Coverage of Road Weather Information Systems in Alberta, Canada. Journal of Advanced Transportation. Accepted in Nov 2018. DOI https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/5179694.
Kwon, T.J., Muresan, M., Fu, L., Usman, T. (2019) Development of Zonal-specific Semivariograms for a Strategic RWIS Network Optimization - A Case Study. Journal of Infrastructure Systems. Volume 25 Issue 2, pg 1-9. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)IS.1943-555X.000049.
Lu, Z., Kwon, T. J. and Fu, L. (2019). Effects of Winter Weather on Traffic Operations and Optimization of Signalized Intersections. Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, Accepted in Feb 2018 and published in Mar 2019. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)IS.1943-555X.0000491 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtte.2018.02.002
Sun, D., El-Basyouny, K., Kwon, T.J. (2018) Sun Glare: Network Characterization and Safety Effects. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. Mar 2018.
Kwon, T. J. and Fu, L. (2017). Spatiotemporal Variability of Road Weather Conditions and Optimal RWIS Density – An Empirical Investigation. The Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering (CJCE). DOI: 10.1139/cjce-2017-0052
Fu, Liping; Thakali, Lalita; Kwon, T. J.; Usman, Taimur. (2017). A Risk-Based Approach to Winter Road Surface Condition Classification. The Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering (CJCE). DOI: 10.1139/cjce-2016-0215
Kwon, T.J., Fu, L., & Melles, S. (2016). Location Optimization of road weather information system (RWIS) network considering the needs of winter road maintenance and the traveling public. Computer Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/mice.12222
Kwon, T.J., and Fu, L (2016). Chapter 8: Mobility Benefits of Winter Road Operations, Sustainable Winter Road Operations. Wiley-Blackwell (accepted for publication).
Fu, L, Muresan, M., Kwon, T.J., and Shi, X. (2016). Chapter 13: Source Control Strategies for Sustainable WRM, Sustainable Winter Road Operations. Wiley-Blackwell (accepted for publication).
Thakali, L., Kwon, T. J., & Fu, L. (2015). Identification of crash hotspot using kernel density estimation and kriging methods – a comparison. Journal of Modern Transportation. DOI: 10.1007/s40534-0150-0068-0 (Selected as one of the top five downloaded articles published in 2015)
Kwon, T. J., Fu, L. & Jiang, C. (2014). RWIS Stations – Where and How Many to Install: A Cost Benefit Analysis Approach, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering (CJCE), DOI: 10.1139/cjce-2013-0569
Kwon, T. J., & Fu, L. (2013). Evaluation of alternative criteria for determining the optimal location of RWIS stations. Journal of Modern Transportation, vol. 21., pp 17-27. DOI: 10.1007/s40534-013-0008-9
Kwon, T. J., Fu, L., & Jiang, C. (2013). Effect of Winter Weather and Road Surface Conditions on Macroscopic Traffic Parameters, accepted for publication in Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, National Research Council. Washington D.C. DOI: 10.3141/2329-07
Kwon, T.J., Li, J., & Wong, A. (2012). ETVOS: An Enhanced Total Variation Optimization Segmentation Approach for SAR Sea-Ice Image Segmentation, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 51(2), 925–934. DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2012.2205259
Kwon, T.J., & Li, J. (2012). Mapping Marine Oil Spills from Space. In J. Yangm X., & Li (Ed.), Advances in Mapping from Remote Sensor Imagery (pp. 361–386). CRC Press, Taylor & Francis.
Refereed Conference Papers and Presentations
Li, Y., Xu, S., Lei, Z., Wu, L., AbourRizk, S., and Kwon, T.J. (2019). A Resilient Simulation Model for Fleet Optimization in Snow Plowing Operations. Proceedings of the 2019 Winter Simulation Conference, National Harbor, Maryland, US., Dec 8-11.
Biswas, S., Wu, M., Melles, S., and Kwon, T.J. (2019). Use of Topography, Weather Zones & Semivariogram Parameters to Optimzie RWIS Station Density across Large Spatial Scales. Accepted for presentation and recommended for publication at the 2019 Transportation Research Board Annual Conference, Washington, D.C., United States, Jan 2019
Pan, G, Fu, L., Yu, R., Muresan, M, and Kwon, T.J. (2019). Winter Road Surface Condition Recognition using a Pre-trained Deep Convolutional Neural Network. Accepted for presentation at the 2019 Transportation Research Board Annual Conference, Washington, D.C., United States, Jan 2019.
Biswas, S., Kwon, T.J., and Fu, L. (2018) A Geostatistical Approach for an Optimal Planning of a Regional RWIS Network. Accepted for presentation at the 19th International Road Weather Conference – SIRWEC 2018, Smolenice, Slovakia, May 2018.
Gu, L., and Kwon, T.J. (2018). Estimating Winter Road Surface Conditions of Alberta’s Highway Network using Kriging with External Drift. Accepted for presentation at the 2018 Transportation Research Board Annual Conference, Washington, D.C., United States, Jan 2018.
Kwon, T.J., and Gu, L. (2017). Modeling of Winter Road Surface Temperature (RST) – A GIS-Based Approach. Conference Proceeding at the 4th International Conference on Transportation Information and Safety (ICTIS), Banff, Alberta, Canada, August 2017.
Kwon, T. J., Fu, L., and Alhenius, K. (2017). TRB Standing Committee on Surface Transportation Weather (AH010): We Want YOU for TRB Operations and Preservation Standing Committees, 2017 Transportation Research Board Annual Conference, Washington, D.C., United States, Jan 2017.
Kwon, T.J., Muresan, M., & Fu, L.(2017). Development of Zonal-specific Semivariograms for a Strategic RWIS Network Optimization– A Case Study. Accepted for presentation at the 2017 Transportation Research Board Annual Conference, Washington, D.C., United States, Jan 2017.
Lu, Z., Fu, L., and Kwon, T.J. (2017). Effect of winter weather on traffic operations and optimization of signalized intersections. Accepted for presentation at the 2017 Transportation Research Board Annual Conference, Washington, D.C., United States, Jan 2017.
Fu, L., Usman, T., and Kwon, T. J. (2017). Development of a model-based performance measurement tool for winter road maintenance management. Accepted for presentation at the 2017 Transportation Research Board Annual Conference, Washington, D.C., United States, Jan 2017.
Kwon, T. J., and Fu, L. (2016). A Systematic Approach to the Planning of a Region-wide RWIS Network. Accepted for Poster Presentation and Proceedings of the 2016 Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) Conference, Toronto, ON., Sept 25-28, 2016.
Kwon, T. J., Fu, L., Melles, S., and Perchanok, M. (2016). Optimizing the Location of Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS) Stations - A Sampling Design Optimization Approach. Accepted for Presentation and Proceedings of the 11th International Transportation Specialty Conference, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, London, ON., June 1-4, 2016.
Lu, Z., Fu, L., Kwon, T. J. (2016). Modifying Signal Control at Intersections under Adverse Weather Conditions. Accepted for Presentation and Proceedings of the 11th International Transportation Specialty Conference, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, London, ON., June 1-4, 2016.
Kwon, T.J., Fu, L., & Perchanok, M. (2016). Spatiotemporal Variability of Road Weather Conditions and Optimal RWIS Density – Case Studies. Presented at and Proceedings of the 95th Annual TRB conference, Washington D.C., Jan 10-14
Fu, L., Thakali, L., Linkton, M., Kwon, T. J., Usman, T. (2015) Cost-benefit analysis of winter road maintenance standards – a case study. Proceedings of the 2015 CSCE Annual Conference, May 27-30, 2015. Regina, SK.
Kwon, T. J., Fu, L., & Jiang, C. (2014). RWIS Stations – Where and How Many to Install: A Cost Benefit Analysis Approach. Presented at and proceedings of the 93rd Annual TRB conference, Washington D.C., Jan 12-16.
Fu, L., Thakali, L., Kwon, T.J., & Usman, T. (2014). Winter Road Condition Classification and Reporting, A Risk Based Approach. Conference Proceedings of 14th International Winter Road Congress, World Road Association. Andorra la Vella, 4-7 Feb 2014
Kwon, T. J., Fu, L., Perchanok, M. S., & McClintock, H. (2013). A Systematic Approach for Locating Road Weather Information System (RWIS) Stations in Canada. Presented at and Proceedings of 2013 TAC Conference and Exhibition, Winnipeg, Manitoba, September 22-25.
L. Fu, Cao, J., Kwon, T.J., Perchanok, M. S., and McClintock, H. (2013). Winter Road Maintenance – a comparison of alternative performance measures and service standards. Presented at 2013 TAC Conference and Exhibition, Winnipeg, Manitoba, September 22-25.
Kwon, T. J., Fu, L., & Perchanok, M.S. (2013). Performance Benchmarking of RWIS Pavement Temperature Forecasts. Presented at and Proceedings of the 92nd Annual TRB conference, Washington D.C., Jan 13-17.
Kwon, T. J., & Fu, L. (2012). Effect of Inclement Weather Conditions on Macroscopic Traffic Behaviour. Conference Proceedings of the 9th International Transportation Specialty Conference, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, Edmonton, AB., 2012.
Kwon, T.J., T Chin, Hilbert W., and Shaker, A. (2009). High Resolution Stereo Satellite Imagery for the Extraction of 3-D Highway Parameters. Presented at and proceedings of Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) Annual Conference, St John’s, Canada.
Technical Project Reports
Gu, L., and Kwon, T.J. (2018). Developing Models for Estimating Winter Road Weather and Surface Conditions – A Case Study. Final report submitted to and accepted by Alberta Transportation. May 2018
Kwon, T. J. Nguyen, B., and Wong, A. (2017). Development of Spatial Rules and Guidelines for Accurate Delineation of Boundary Collisions in the City of Edmonton, Final report submitted to Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), City of Edmonton. May 2017.
Kwon, T.J., and Fu, L. (2017). Development of a GIS based RWIS Network Planning Tool, A Final Report, Highway Infrastructure Innovation Funding Program (HIIFP). April 2017.
Fu, L., Usman, T., and Kwon, T.J. (2016). GIS Based Road Salt and Performance Dashboards for Winter Road Maintenance Management. MTO Provincial Highways Management Division Report, Highway Infrastructure Innovation Funding Program (HIIFP). April 2016.
Kwon, T. J., and Fu, L. (2015). RWIS Network Planning: Optimal Density and Location, Final report submitted to Aurora Program (http://www.aurora-program.org), Aurora Project 2010-04, Jan 2016.
Fu, L., Thakali, L., Usman, T., and Kwon, T. J. (2014). Application of Winter Road Maintenance (WRM) Performance Models for Evaluating the Implications of Varying Service Standards. Final Report submitted to Ontario Ministry of Transportation.
Kwon, T. J., Fu, L., & Perchanok, M.S. (2013). Performance Benchmarking of RWIS Pavement Temperature Forecasts. Final report submitted to Aurora Program (http://www.aurora-program.org), Aurora Project 2000-01, March 2012.