Miguel A. Figliozzi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Civil & Environmental Engineering

Dr. Miguel Andres Figliozzi joined Portland State University in August 2007 as an Assistant Professor in the Civil Engineering Department. His previous academic appointment was as a faculty at the University of Sydney Business School in the Institute for Transport and Logistics. Dr. Figliozzi’s main research areas are transportation and logistics systems modeling and optimization. His current (funded) research work deals with: the usage of GPS truck data to evaluate and develop freight corridor performance measures, the study of climate change impacts on transportation infrastructure, green fleet replacement models, bus "bunching" mimization in public transportation operations, the impact of congestion on vehicle routing, the development of algorithms for the time-dependent-stochastic  routing, statewide freight modeling improvements, the development of volume –speed functions for traffic assignment models, and the impact of traffic flows on emissions. Additional areas of research include: development of new freight congestion measures, algorithms for vehicle routing and distribution in congested urban areas, the study of the impact of toll and lane pricing on freight demand and supply chains, the evaluation of the environmental impacts of freight transportation, the development of alternative sustainable freight transportation options, and bicycle rider performance. His teaching includes courses in freight transportation and supply chain/logistics, networks and optimization, and the introductory course to transportation engineering. Dr. Figliozzi holds a PhD from the University of Maryland College Park and a MSc from the University of Texas at Austin.

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Ashley Haire, Ph.D.
Senior Research Associate
Civil & Environmental Engineering

Dr. Ashley Haire is a Senior Research Associate in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Her primary research interests include sustainable transportation systems and public transportation operations. Dr. Haire’s current work explores the impacts of climate change on transportation infrastructure, the environmental health effects of traffic stream characteristics, and the influences of fuel price and unemployment on transit ridership. Originally from North Carolina, Dr. Haire received a BSCE from the University of Arizona, after which she worked in roadway and freeway design before earning an MSCE from Arizona. She completed her doctoral work at the University of Texas at Austin in 2009, focusing on transit and traffic operations.

 

Christopher M. Monsere, Ph.D., P.E.
Assistant Professor
Civil & Environmental Engineering

Dr. Christopher M. Monsere is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and is an affiliated faculty member of the School of Urban Studies & Planning (USP). Monsere received his BCE from the University of Detroit Mercy (Detroit, Michigan) in 1995; his MSCE with an emphasis in transportation from Iowa State University ( Ames, Iowa) in 1997; and his Ph.D. in civil engineering at Iowa State University in 2001. Dr. Monsere’s primary research interests are in the areas of highway safety, freight transportation, operations, and intelligent transportation systems and has sucessfully obtained external funding for his work. Prior to joining the faculty at Portland State University, Monsere was the Highway Safety Engineer at the Oregon Department of Transportation in Salem from 2000 to 2004. His responsibilities include the identification of statewide high crash locations, developing and managing tools for the evaluation of safety projects, approving highway illumination, and technical evaluations of highway safety improvements. During his tenure at ODOT, Monsere directed significant improvements in the highway safety program at ODOT. Dr Monsere is a member of the TRB Task Force to develop the Highway Safety Manual (ANB25T), the Safety Data Analysis and Evaluation (ANB20) committee, and served on two NCHRP panels (Review of AASHTO Strategic Highway Safety Plan Guidebooks and the Future Strategic Highway Safety Research Program). Dr. Monsere is licensed professional engineer in the state of Oregon.

Kristin Tufte, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor
Computer Science and Civil & Environmental Engineering

Ph.D., Computer Science, University of Wisconsin Madison, 2005
M.S., Computer Science, University of Wisconsin Madison, 1996
B.S., Mathematics, St. Olaf College, 1988

Dr. Kristin Tufte is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in Computer Science and Civil & Environment Engineering. Dr. Tufte's area of specialization is database systems. In particular, she studies techniques for processing data streams such as network (Internet) traffic, environmental sensor readings, traffic sensor data, and telephone call records. Interesting challenges presented by these types of data are the "unending" nature of data streams and disordered, dirty, skewed, and bursty data. Dr. Tufte is interested in applying data stream technology to Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) data streams such as loop detector data and bus dispatch data in an effort to provide improved traffic measurements to ITS professionals. Dr. Tufte is currently involved in the PORTAL project which is archiving ITS data for the purpose of improved traffic assesment and modeling. In her previous research, Dr. Tufte has been involved in the development of two large database systems: most recently, the Niagara Stream Query Engine and previously the Paradise GIS Database.

Founding Lab Director -- on leave from PSU with USDOT

 

Robert L. Bertini, Ph.D., P.E.
Professor
Civil & Environmental Engineering and Urban Studies & Planning
Director, Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC)

Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, 1999
M.S., Civil Engineering, San Jose State University, 1991
B.S., Civil Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, 1988

With over 20 years of experience in the transportation field, Robert L. Bertini's career has included planning, design, and construction of highway, rail and airport facilities. At Portland State, Bertini has developed a research program, laboratory, and graduate curriculum in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), attracting more than $3.2 million in external funding (www.its.pdx.edu). Bertini is the recipient of the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, which is supporting the development of PORTAL, an online transportation data archive (portal.its.pdx.edu). As director of the $16 million campuswide and statewide Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC, see www.otrec.us), his research focuses on the integration of new technologies and is benefiting from collaborations with other disciplines such as urban planning and electrical engineering/computer science. Bertini works in partnership with local, regional, state, federal, and international transportation organizations on research that integrates new technologies toward making our transportation system more efficient, effective, and equitable. Bertini's research interests include: new data sources, sensor technology, data analysis, data fusion; traffic flow theory and macroscopic modeling; performance measures and evaluation of transportation systems, programs and policies; safety data analysis and improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists; multimodal traveler information, routing and control; and sustainability through new mobility services and alternative fuels. Prior to entering academia, Bertini worked as a transportation engineer and served as a City Planning Commissioner (for more information see web.pdx.edu/~bertini)

 

Former Faculty

Soyoung (Sue) Ahn, Ph.D.
Currently an Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Arizona State University

Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, 2005
M.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, 2001
B.S., Civil Engineering, The Ohio State University, 2000.

Dr. Soyoung Ahn was a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in Civil and Environmental Engineering from 2006-2006. Dr. Ahn has conducted research in the areas of traffic flow theory, operations and incident management. As a graduate research assistant, she evaluated the latest freeway incident management systems in California, investigated the effects of vehicle lane-changing on stop-and-go driving, studied driver turn-taking behavior at congested freeway merges, and verified an existing car-following model via statistical analysis and testing.