Mohammad Al Faruque

Professor (Joint Appointment) Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Samueli School of Engineering

How did you become interested in transportation? What interests you most right now?  

I am a computer engineer by training. Since 2009, I have been concentrating on cyber physical systems. In cyber physical systems, more software and embedded computers are becoming integrated into the transportation system or becoming “smart”. With that, the intersections and control systems are becoming more software centric. 

I became more interested in transportation as an application. Specifically, I was  fascinated with the integration of technology - new vulnerabilities, policies and opportunities; the transportation challenges, how technology is helping, how technology can create challenges. Right now, I am working on the security aspects of transportation.

What are ITS-Irvine’s strengths? 

I came to UCI in 2012. Although I am from the electrical engineering department, I found it’s an inter-disciplinary research area. We have ideas that are similar, maybe we speak different languages, but eventually the problems we are trying to solve are solved together.

ITS-Irvine’s strength is its multidisciplinary nature. The people in ITS have interesting perspectives and have different expertise. Many faculty come from different backgrounds. I think that’s ITS’ biggest strength. 

If you could give incoming students one piece of career advice, what would it be?

I strongly believe that students should concentrate on their foundation. As an undergraduate or graduate student, having a strong foundation is very important. Be aware of new technologies, but not at the cost of foundational knowledge.  

What are your research interests and what types of projects are you currently working on?

My research interests are new technologies into transportation systems. Hardware, sensors like LiDAR, camera, or other technologies that are getting integrated and how these things can help into the safety and security of the transportation system.

As an example, I am currently working on a road intersection security project - increasing the safety of intersections. There are new machine learning and AI algorithms people are trying to integrate with intersections for identification. These technologies are also making intersections vulnerable to the outside world. I'm looking very carefully at these new technologies and the integration of these technologies into the transportation system for bringing human safety to the intersection and transportation system.

What are your plans for future research? 

I plan to continue working on the intersection of machine learning, security sensors, and transportation safety.

What issues in transportation keep you up at night?  

The security aspect of transportation keeps me up at night. On one hand, I’m excited that new technologies are getting into the transportation systems, but I'm scared that if we don't integrate these technologies in a meaningful and understandable way, because this is a critical infrastructure, it could be detrimental. 

Transportation isn’t something that, if it's not working, can be changed overnight. 

We have to make sure that safety is the first priority in every technology integration. I am also concerned that if any entity wants to find a critical infrastructure vulnerability and wants to harm the nation or can create economic, social and many other serious consequences. Safety and security of critical infrastructure like transportation are of utmost importance.  

What is your superpower? 

Determination. If I want to achieve something, I'll do it. No matter how hard it is, I'll figure it out.