Advancing Human-Centered AI for Safe and Resilient Transportation Systems
CURRENT MEMBERS
Kun Xie, Director​
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Dr. Xie is the director of the Transportation Informatics Lab and an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Old Dominion University (ODU). He holds a Ph.D. degree in transportation planning and engineering from New York University. Prior to joining ODU, he worked as a Lecturer (equivalent to Assistant Professor in USA) in the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering at University of Canterbury and as a Postdoctoral Associate in the Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) and Department of Urban and Civil Engineering at New York University. He was invited as a Visiting Fellow to The University of Hong Kong, University College London, Imperial College London, and Delft University of Technology. His research work has been recognized by prestigious awards such as IEEE ITS Best Dissertation Award, CUTC Milton Pikarsky Memorial Award, and Transportation Research Board (TRB) Best Paper Award. Dr. Xie is recognized as the top 50 global scholars (top 0.1%) in traffic accident research.
Qingwen Pu, PhD Candidate
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Qingwen is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Civil & Environment Engineering at Old Dominion University (ODU). He received a M.S. in Computer Science and Technology from Inner Mongolia University. His research interests are broadly in computer vision and deep learning approaches to advancing traffic safety analytics.
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Qingwen received Best Paper Award from the Road Safety and Simulation Conference.
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Featured Publications: Pu, Q., Xie, K. and Guo, H., 2026. Modeling interactive car-following behaviors of automated and human-driven vehicles in safety-critical events: a multi-agent state-space attention-enhanced framework. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 229, p.108447.
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Yuxiang Liu, PhD Student
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Yuxiang is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Civil & Environment Engineering at Old Dominion University (ODU). He received a B.S. in Electronic Information Engineering from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications. His research interests are driving behavior, traffic safety and autonomous vehicles.
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Chenyu Yan, PhD Student
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Chenyu Yan is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Old Dominion University (ODU). He received a B.E. in Transportation from Inner Mongolia University. His research focuses on transportation system resilience and human behavior analysis under extreme events.
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ALUMNI
Hongyu Guo (Now Senior Data Scientist at NZ Transport Agency)
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Hongyu Guo received his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering at the University of Canterbury (UC) in 2023. He received his M.S. in Communication and Transportation Engineering and his B.S. in Traffic Engineering from Tongji University. His research interests lie in traffic big data analytics, driving behavior, traffic safety, and connected and autonomous vehicles.
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Dissertation: Deep Learning-based Lane Change Modelling Using Connected Vehicle Data: Detection, Prediction, Safety, and Coupled Behaviour
Abdalziz Alruwaili (Now Assistant Professor at Jouf University)
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Abdalziz received his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Old Dominion University (ODO) in 2024. Abdalziz obtained his master’s degree in Civil Engineering from The Catholic University of America. His research interests are in behavioral safety research, driving simulator, and connected and autonomous vehicles.
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Dissertation: Modeling the Impact Of Connected and Automated Vehicles on Driving Behaviors and Safety: A Driving Simulator Study
Guocong Zhai (Now Assistant Professor at Southwest Jiaotong University)
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Guocong Zhai received his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Civil & Environment Engineering at Old Dominion University (ODU) in 2024. He received a M.S. in Transportation Planning and Management from Southwest Jiaotong University and a B.S. in Transportation Safety Engineering from Changan University. His research interests are broadly in applications of causal inference and machine learning approaches to address safety issues.
Guocong received Rollie Dubbe Engineering Scholarship and William A. Drewry Award in 2022.
Dissertation: Advancing Data-Driven Decision Making for Transportation Safety: Emerging Trends, Statistical Modeling, and Causal Inference
Xiaomeng Dong​ (Now Postdoc Researcher at Morgan State University)
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Xiaomeng Dong received her Ph.D. degree from the Department of Civil & Environment Engineering at Old Dominion University (ODU) in 2025. She received her M.S. in Urban Informatics from New York University, M.S., and B.S. in Urban Planning from Changan University. Her research interests lie in driving behavior, transportation safety, and urban informatics.
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Xiaomeng received the WTS Helene M. Overly Memorial Scholarship and CEE Excellent Research Assistant Award in 2022.
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Dissertation: Modeling the Impacts of Disruptive Events on Driving Behaviors, Transportation Safety, and Equity: Advanced Statistical Insights from the COVID-19 Pandemic
Samantha Lugo, Undergraduate Researcher
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Samantha Lugo is an undergraduate student in the Departments of Psychology and Sociology at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). She will obtain a bachelor's degree in Psychology and Sociology at UTSA. Her research interests lie in behavior and transportation safety.