Kuilin Zhang

Dr. Kuilin Zhang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering at the College of Engineering and an Affiliated Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the College of Computing, Michigan Technological University. He is affiliated with the Michigan Tech Transportation Institute (MTTI), Institute of Computing and Cybersystems (ICC), and Center for Agile Interconnected Microgrids (AIM). His research focuses on transportation systems optimization, connected and automated vehicles (CAVs), freight logistics, and cyber-physical systems integration. Dr. Zhang holds a Ph.D. in Transportation Systems Analysis and Planning from Northwestern University (2009), with postdoctoral fellowships at Northwestern and Argonne National Laboratory (2010–2013).

• Education: PhD in Transportation Systems Analysis and Planning (Northwestern University, 2009)
• Professional Roles: Member of TRB committees (AEP40, AT015, AR030), SAE Cooperative Driving Automation Committee, IEEE, INFORMS, and ITE.

Research Interests: Dr. Zhang’s work spans data-driven optimization, cooperative adaptive cruise control, intermodal freight modeling, and mobile sensing. He develops models for CAVs, smart city infrastructure, and resilient logistics systems. Recent projects include DOE-funded research on intermodal freight resilience and NSF CAREER Award-supported CAV control algorithms.

Publications: Over 30 peer-reviewed articles in journals like Transportation Research Part B and IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, focusing on traffic flow theory, CAV systems, and freight optimization.

• Awards: NSF CAREER Award (2019), TRB Gartner Prize (2022).
• Grants: Total funding exceeds $5M from NSF, DOE, USDOT, and MDOT for projects like drone-based infrastructure monitoring and CAV energy efficiency.
• Advising: Supervised 6 Ph.D. students, with notable alumni including Dr. Ali Jalooli (now faculty at California State University).

Labs: Leads the Sustainable and Intelligent Transportation Systems (SITS-Lab) and Connected and Automated Vehicle Systems Testing (CAVS-Lab), developing tools like CARDS for CAV simulation and UAV traffic monitoring systems.