Welcome!

Sungyong Chung

Hello! I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), advised by Professor Alireza Talebpour. I am also a co-founder and CTO of @Quantaeon. My research lies at the intersection of data-driven modeling, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing. My work is driven by a fundamental theoretical intuition: the universe is inherently quantum at all scales. I believe that the complex, stochastic behaviors we observe at the macroscopic scale, traditionally modeled via classical probability transition matrices and probability distributions, are ultimately just the emergent, classical manifestations of underlying quantum laws.

Currently, I am focusing on capturing the stochastic, multi-layered decision-making of human drivers interacting with automated vehicles in mixed traffic environments. My recent work includes establishing a calibration-free Markov Chain Car-Following (MC-CF) model using the Waymo Open Motion Dataset to study the behavior of human-driven and automated vehicles, as well as applying quantum game theory to model the evolution of lane-changing behaviors in mixed traffic. My goal is to gain insights into how the introduction of fully autonomous vehicles would impact traffic flow, particularly considering the changes in human-driven vehicle behavior in mixed traffic environments.

Prior to joining UIUC, I earned my B.S. and M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Seoul National University, South Korea.

This is my CV (updated on June 2026)

[Google Scholar] [LinkedIn] [Github] [Blog (Korean)]

News

[June 2026] The 1st-authored paper Universal Quantum Transformer is now available on arXiv.
[June 2026] Co-founded @Quantaeon, serving as Co-Founder and CTO!
[May 2026] The 1st-authored paper OpenCF: A Standardized Benchmark for Car-Following Model Evaluation is accepted for publication at the 2026 IEEE ITSC.
[Mar. 2026] The 1st-authored paper Data is All You Need: Markov Chain Car-Following (MC-CF) Model is now available on arXiv.
[Mar. 2026] The 1st-authored paper Gap Setting Control of ACC-Equipped Vehicles for Enhancing Traffic Flow: Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach was accepted in IET Intelligent Transport Systems.
[Jan. 2026] The 1st-authored paper Characterizing Lane-Changing Behavior in Mixed Traffic was presented at the 105th TRB annual meeting in Washington D.C., United States.
[Aug. 2024] Started Ph.D. program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign!
[Jul. 2024] The 1st-authored paper Gap Setting Control Strategy for Connected and Automated Vehicles in Freeway Lane-Drop Bottlenecks was published in IET Intelligent Transport Systems.
[Jan. 2024] The 1st-authored paper CAV Gap Setting Control Strategy for Freeway Lane-Drop Bottlenecks was presented at the 103rd TRB annual meeting in Washington D.C., United States.
[Dec. 2023] The 1st-authored paper Stochastic User Equilibrium Model for Demand Distribution Between Urban Air Mobility and Ground Transportation Networks was orally presented at the 27th HKSTS in Hong Kong.
[Aug. 2023] The 1st-authored paper Analysis of Influence Area of Speed Camera in School Zone Based on Survival Analysis was published in the Journal of Korean Society of Transportation.
[Feb. 2023] Received Degree of M.S. in transportation engineering at the Seoul National University.
[April 2022] Presented Exploring the Relationship Between Distance Settings of ACC Vehicles and String Stability at the 86th Korean Society of Transportation Conference and received an Outstanding Paper Award.
[April 2020 - Oct. 2021] Completed military service as an auxiliary police officer in South Korea.
[Sep. 2019] First poster presentation at the 81st Korean Society of Transportation Conference!