Event Type: Seminar

The annual pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj) induces the gathering of millions of worshipers at the same time in the Holy shrines in and around Mecca. Tawaf, or circumambulation of the Kaa’ba, the focal point of the Grand Mosque (Haram), is the cornerstone of Hajj rituals. Another critical ritual experiencing overcrowding is the Jamarat system, which was a notorious crowd bottleneck, composed of three stone monuments, each surrounded by a ring, where pilgrims are supposed to throw pebbles in a given sequence.

The situation at the Jamarat site was highly dangerous due to the vast number of Hajjis trying to stone the pillars in a relatively short period of time and limited space. Many sad fatal accidents have occurred over the years and the area was in urgent need of development. Authorities proposed a design that offered a significant improvement to the safety of the pilgrims, replacing the one tier structure with a 4 tier structure (5 levels) and we were called for to audit such design. In order to ensure that the new Jamarat structure satisfies the required criteria of pilgrim safety during periods of overcrowding, its conceptual design was subjected to crowd modeling and simulation to test, evaluate and, when needed, modify its different design elements. The goal was to determine the capacity, throughput and performance of the proposed design.

On the other hand, the new expansion of Mecca’s Grand Mosque is supposed to increase its capacity to about threefold, and this is expected to significantly add more load on the Tawaf ritual. We assessed the Tawaf performance, and modeled a range of its site’s (court yard) configurations. This effort helped reach a final design that is currently under construction.

Modelling and simulation of crowds is a relatively new field, with early simulation models emerging in late 1980’s and the field dramatically expanded starting in late 1990’s. It can be a very useful tool in designing safe places for mass gatherings.

Professor AlGadhi’s research interests include modelling and simulation of crowd behavior and movement, transportation systems analysis, transit planning, traffic safety, and traffic flow theory; with special interest in Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca) crowd and transportation studies. Dr. AlGadhi, holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (Transportation) from the University of Texas at Austin (1990), M.Sc. from the University of Illinois (Urbana), and a B.Sc. from King Saud University (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia). He is a professor of civil engineering at King Saud University..

The Hajj – the great Islamic pilgrimage to Makkah, Saudi Arabia – is known to be the largest annually occurring pedestrian problem in the world with more than 3 million pilgrims each year. Pilgrims perform several religious rituals, including Ramy al-Jamarat – the stoning of the devil ritual – which is known to be particularly crowded. Until 2006, several sad crowd disasters with hundreds of casualties occurred. In the aftermath of the Hajj in 2006, several measures have been taken to improve safety and to avoid crowd disasters. One particular measure is the development of a time schedule for the pilgrims to perform the stoning ritual. In this paper, we present a model and a solution approach to the Pilgrim Scheduling Problem. The model minimizes the deviation of the scheduled stoning time from the preferred stoning time, while taking into account resource capacities (street width, for example) to avoid critical densities of pilgrims. At the same time pilgrims are assigned to routes leading to the ritual site. We solve the Pilgrim Scheduling Problem by an intelligible fix-and-optimize heuristic. Our approach has been an integral part of the planning of Hajj since 2006/2007 and no further crowd disaster has happened in the periods 2007-2014. We illustrate our work with computational results and validation data for the Hajj in 2014-

This contribution has been selected as a 2015 INFORMS Franz Edelman Award finalist (https://www.informs.org/About-INFORMS/News-Room/Press-Releases/2015-Edelman-Finalists)
* Dirk Helbing was only involved in the consultancy for the first successful implementation in 2007.

We present a general conceptual framework to explore autonomous vehicle adoption. The traffic flow implications of different adoption rates are examined using a microscopic modeling framework of mixed traffic streams in which certain fractions of the vehicles are respectively autonomous, connected or both. We jointly model the properties of the peer-to-peer communication systems for different levels of message content. The framework is used in an exploratory analysis of the flow characteristics of the resulting mixed traffic stream, with particular attention to throughput and stability.

Professor Hani S. Mahmassani is the William A. Patterson Distinguished Chair in Transportation; Director, Northwestern University Transportation Center; Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science; and Professor (courtesy), Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences, Kellogg School of Management. Professor Mahmassani specializes in multimodal transportation systems analysis, planning and operations, dynamic network modeling and optimization, transit network planning and design, dynamics of user behavior and telematics, telecommunication-transportation interactions, large-scale human infrastructure systems, and real-time operation of logistics and distribution systems.

Traffic crashes and accidents at intersections, roundabouts and roadway segments result from many complex factors, but
at a basic level, they are outcomes of the interactions among vehicles and other road users. Since few direct measurements
of these interactions are available, engineers and planners instead attempt to understand them by studying crashes and
accidents reports. As crashes account for a tiny fraction of safety conflicts, these reports fail to provide a full
understanding of what is happening at the points of accidents. This is especially true of crashes involving pedestrians and
bicycles, for which data are sparse, making it difficult to determine reliable patterns. In this talk we will present risk based
traffic safety models using multiple data streams, including near miss data, systemic data, historical traffic accidents, and
drivers’ naturalistic behavior data. We will also briefly discuss ongoing research at Rutgers on the development of
Plan4Saefty software, which is currently being used by the State of New Jersey for traffic safety analysis and planning.

Mohsen A. Jafari is a professor and Chair of Industrial & Systems Engineering at Rutgers University and is a principal at the Rutgers
Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation, where he overseas Transportation Safety Resource Center and Information
Management Group. He recently started Laboratory for Sustainable Systems (LESS) at Rutgers University. His current research
interests include control and optimization of large complex systems in transportation and energy applications. He has been principal
or co-principal to over $18.0M R&D funding from the US and international government agencies and industry. His work has led to
three patents, 118 technical articles, over 60 conference papers and 100+ invited and contributed presentations. He actively
collaborates with universities and national labs in the US and abroad. He has advised eighteen Ph.D. theses and nine post-doctoral &
research fellows. Presently, he is advising additional five Ph.D. theses. He is a member of IEEE and was recipient of the IEEE
excellence award in service and research, SAP curriculum award and two Transportation safety awards. He has been consultant to
several fortune 500 companies, and national and international government agencies.

Electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) have attracted worldwide attentions because of their capabilities to improve energy and environment sustainability. However, inconvenience of charging, high cost, short driving range, and safety concerns of the battery system have hindered the mass market penetration of EVs and PHEVs. This presentation will look at studies which address some of these issues with wireless charging technology.

This presentation will focus on wireless charging technology that helps eliminate the need of carrying cables and plugging in, and offer significant improvement in convenience and electric safety for EV and PHEV charging. Although Wireless Power Transmission (WPT) has been commercialized for consumer electronics and also investigated for EV wireless charging, the size, efficiency, and cost are key obstacles that prevent WPT from widely deployed. Our research in this area aims at novel designs that can considerably reduce size and cost while increase coupling coefficient and system efficiency.

After two years of study, two designs of the magnetic-resonance WPT chargers have been developed at UM-Dearborn. Vertically layered magnetic-resonance WPT charger instead of layering all components horizontally is proposed, where the components of the magnetic-resonance WPT charger are vertically layered. When compared to the horizontal design, the vertical design will be considerably thicker, requiring a larger space for positioning.

The investigators have presented detailed designs for major structures of the magnetic-resonance WPT charger. Laboratory prototypes have been made and 8kW power transfer has been achieved over 200mm distance with up to 96.5% DC-DC efficiency, with alignment tolerance of up to 300 mm. UM is working with Mia Motors and DENSO International to develop a prototype vehicle.

Chris Mi is a fellow of IEEE, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Michigan, Dearborn, and the Director of the US DOE funded GATE Center for Electric Drive Transportation. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees from Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, all in electrical engineering. Previously he was an Electrical Engineer with General Electric Canada Inc. He was the President and the Chief Technical Officer of 1Power Solutions, Inc. from 2008 to 2011. He is the Co-Founder of Gannon Motors and Controls LLC and Mia Motors, Inc.
His research interests are in electric and hybrid vehicles. He has taught tutorials and seminars on the subject of HEVs/PHEVs for the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), the IEEE, workshops sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Society of Professional Engineers. He has delivered courses to major automotive OEMs and suppliers, including GM, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Hyundai, Tyco Electronics, A&D Technology, Johnson Controls, Quantum Technology, Delphi, and the European Ph.D School. He has offered tutorials in many countries, including the U.S., China, Korea, Singapore, Italy, France, and Mexico. He has published more than 100 articles and delivered 30 invited talks and keynote speeches. He has also served as a panelist in major IEEE and SAE conferences.
Dr. Mi is the recipient of “Distinguished Teaching Award” and “Distinguished Research Award” of University of Michigan Dearborn. He is a recipient of the 2007 IEEE Region 4 “Outstanding Engineer Award,” “IEEE Southeastern Michigan Section Outstanding Professional Award.” and the “SAE Environmental Excellence in Transportation (E2T) Award.” He was also a recipient of the National Innovation Award and the Government Special Allowance Award from the China Central Government. In December 2007, he became a Member of Eta Kappa Nu, which is the Electrical and Computer Engineering Honor Society, for being “a leader in education and an example of good moral character.”
Dr. Mi was the Chair (2008-2009) and Vice Chair (2006-2007) of the IEEE Southeastern Michigan Section. Dr. Mi was the general Chair of the 5th IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference held in Dearborn, Michigan, USA in September 6-11, 2009. Dr. Mi is one of the three Area Editors of the Editor of IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Senior Editor, IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine, Guest Editor, International Journal of Power Electronics, Editorial Board, International Journal of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles, Editorial Board, IET Electrical Systems in Transportation, and Associate Editor of Journal of Circuits, Systems, and Computers (2007-2009). He served on the review panel for the NSF, the U.S. Department of Energy (2007–2010), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (2010), Hong Kong Research Grants Council, French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders (Belgium), and the Danish Research Council. He is the topic chair for the 2011 IEEE International Future Energy Challenge, and the General Chair for the 2013 IEEE International Future Energy Challenge. Dr. Chris Mi is a Distinguished Lecturer (DL) of the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society.
He is also the General Co-Chair of IEEE Workshop on Wireless Power Transfer sponsored by PELS, IAS, IES, VTS, MAG, and PES, Editor of IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics – Special Issue on WPT, and steering committee member of the IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference (ITEC- Asian).

Advances in spatial technologies, specifically geographic information systems (GIS), are allowing new and innovative forms of transportation research. Drs. Horan and Hilton will present findings from recent research at their Advanced GIS Lab. These innovations include several undertakings in transportation safety, and more recently, spatial analysis of freight rail and community development. The transportation safety work has highlighted the extensiveness of rural safety problems and the regional freight research has linked economic cluster analysis with community development. The aim of this research is to provide policy makers and citizens with an understanding of transportation’s spatial dimension in a manner that can inform policies aimed to improve transportation’s safety and community impacts.

Dr. Horan is Professor and Director, Center for Information Systems and Technology, Claremont Graduate University. Dr. Horan has over 25 years experience in transportation research, including Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). He has published over 140 articles and has led several national studies on rural transportation safety, emergency response systems, and transportation community impacts.
Dr. Hilton is Associate Clinical Professor and Director, Advanced GIS Lab, Center for Information Systems and Technology, Claremont Graduate University. Dr. Hilton has 15 years experience is GIS and led the creation of the founding Esri Development Center (EDC) at Claremont Graduate University.
Drs. Hilton and Horan’s work on GIS and transportation safety were recently showcased at the White House’s Open Data Initiative Conference.

The rapid expansion of the U.S. biofuel industry diverts a large amount of farm land into energy feedstock production, and in turn affects food, energy and land market equilibria, as well as agricultural economic development in local areas. In this talk, we present Stackelberg-Nash game models that incorporate farmers’ decisions on land use and market choice into the biofuel manufacturers’ supply chain design problem. The models determine the optimal number and locations of biorefineries, the required prices for these refineries to compete for feedstock resources, as well as farmers’ land acquisition and production decisions. We also introduce government farmland use regulations that aim at balancing food and energy production and marginal land use, and a cap-and-trade implementation mechanism. Spatial market equilibrium is utilized to model the relationship between crop supply and demand and the associated price variations in local food markets. We develop solution approaches that transform the original discrete mathematical program with equilibrium constraints into a mixed integer quadratic programming problem, and explore adaptive decomposition methods based on Lagrangian and linear relaxations. The proposed methodologies are illustrated with an empirical case study of the Illinois State. The computation results reveal interesting insights into optimal land use strategies, government regulations, and supply chain design for sustainable development of the emerging "biofuel economy.”
(Joint work with Yun Bai and Jong-Shi Pang)

Yanfeng Ouyang is an associate professor and the Paul F. Kent Endowed Faculty Scholar of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He received his Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 2005. His research interest mainly focuses on the areas of transportation and logistics systems, interdependent infrastructure systems, traffic flow theory and operations, and applications to renewable energy, sensor, and agricultural systems. He currently serves as a department editor of IIE Transactions (Focused Issue on Operations Engineering and Analytics), an associate editor of Transportmetrica B, a guest editor of Transportation Research Part B (special issue), and he is on the editorial advisory board of Transportation Research Part B and the Journal of Infrastructure Systems. He received the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the U.S. National Science Foundation in 2008, the High Impact Project Award from the Illinois Department of Transportation in 2014, the Engineering Council Outstanding Advisor Award from UIUC in 2014, the Xerox Award for Faculty Research from UIUC in 2010, and the Gordon F. Newell Award from Berkeley in 2005.

Over the past 20 years the transportation engineering field has witnessed a data revolution—some might say that we have transitioned from a data “desert” to a data “ocean.” Join Prof. Robert Bertini as he traces aspects of his research career over this period and describes the ways in which this data “ocean” has inspired, enabled and influenced his work. We know that most transportation management, logistics, and operations systems, as well as intelligent transportation systems (ITS) applications are founded upon a data infrastructure, and sometimes these data are archived in a systematic manner. If managed properly, archived ITS data from sensors and mobile probes can provide a unique foundation for scientific discovery in the traffic and transportation field. Through careful processing and using innovative visualization techniques, transportation data can reveal fundamental traffic principles, behavior and phenomena, such as freeway merging at on-ramps and lane-drops and oscillations. Transport data may also be used to enable the optimization of the deployment of transportation resources, such as freeway sensors, traffic management applications or transit stops. Further, transport data, if analyzed carefully can provide the basis for conducting evaluations and assessments of transportation system congestion and performance, at different geographic levels, such as facility, corridor or region. Finally, the inception of a “connected” transportation environment with vehicles and infrastructure devices communicating at high frequency, we are moving to yet another level of transportation data availability. But numerous questions remain about who will own and manage these data, how will privacy be maintained and more. What does the future hold in the field of transportation enabled by an avalanche of high-resolution multimodal data? Also to be presented will be some approaches for meeting challenges and opportunities in the civil and environmental engineering field, which continues to be people-serving, relevant and critical for the future of our society. Finally some thoughts on teaching and civil and environmental engineering education will be discussed.

Robert L. Bertini is a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Portland State University. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; an M.S. in Civil Engineering from San Jose State University, and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a sought-after teacher, advisor, lecturer and facilitator. He received a National Science Foundation CAREER award. He is the faculty lead for the Portland Sustainable Transport Lab, chairs the TRB Committee on Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics and will be serving as the Chair of the TRB Operations Section (covering 13 committees). He has developed an innovative Intelligent Transportation Systems Laboratory and was the founding director of the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC), a National University Transportation Center. From 2009-2011, he served as Deputy Administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Against the backdrop of an ageing Japan, and as a countermeasure against the low birthrate phenomenon, the promotion of an environment that allows children, pregnant women, and parents of babies and young children to participate in out-of-home activities in a safe and comfortable manner is increasingly becoming more important. This study focuses on barriers encountered by parents with young children when conducting out-of-home daily activities. We conducted a web-based questionnaire survey on 1,000 women with young children living in the Kanto Region, including Tokyo Metropolitan Area. We found differences in their travel mode and frequency, and attitude towards barriers for out-of-home activity participation among living areas and individual/household characteristics such as working mother or not, numbers and years of children, years of raising child, household structures, etc.

Nobuaki Ohmori is associate Professor in the Department of Urban Engineering at the University of Tokyo. He received his PhD in Urban Engineering in March of 2000 from the University of Tokyo. His research interests include urban accessibility and transportation for Children and parents, and more generally urban transportation planning;travel behavior; activity-travel analysis;and Information and Communication Technologies applied to transportation.

 

Two analytical models are introduced for predicting the allocation to ports and transportation channels of containerized goods imported from Asia to North America. Assuming fixed distributions for container flow-times, the Long-Run Model heuristically solves a mixed integer non-linear program to determine the least-cost supply-chain strategies for importers. The Short-Run Model uses estimates of the flow times as a function of traffic volumes on fixed infrastructure to iteratively develop the best near-term strategies.

The models allocate imports to alternative ports and logistics channels so as to minimize total transportation and inventory costs for each importer. Alternative logistics channels include direct shipment of marine containers via truck or rail, and trans-loading cargoes in the hinterlands of the ports of entry from marine containers into domestic trailers or containers.

The models are calibrated on industrial data. Minimum volume requirements and capacities for ports and landside channels are considered. The results are analyzed, and are used to describe the mix of supply-chain strategies utilized by various types of importers and the consequent trends in import flows by port and landside channel. Policy recommendations for governments, transportation and logistics service providers, and importers are also provided. (Joint work with Rob Leachman at U.C. Berkeley)

Payman Jula is an Associate Professor at Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University (SFU), Vancouver, Canada, where he teaches courses related to operations management, and decision making under uncertainty. Payman has a PhD in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from University of California at Berkeley. His research interests are in transportation and logistics, and applications of operations management in the manufacturing and service industries. Payman has studied the economics of Asia – North America supply chains, and today will present his work in this area.