Xiaopeng Li

Dr. Xiaopeng Li is the Harvey D. Spangler Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with an affiliation in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He leads the USDOT Rural Autonomous Vehicle Program and previously directed the National Institute for Congestion Reduction.

He earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Tsinghua University (2006), M.S. in Civil Engineering (2007), M.S. in Applied Mathematics (2010), and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (2011) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

His research focuses on modeling and field experiments for connected, electric, and automated vehicles (CAVs), infrastructure systems analysis, and interdependent network modeling. He has pioneered physics-enhanced machine learning frameworks for vehicle control and developed simulation tools for CAV deployment.

His 2025-2024 publications highlight advancements in

• Connected vehicle trajectory modeling
• Energy consumption optimization
• Edge computing for autonomous operations
• Residual learning control systems
• Equity analysis in AV deployment
• Communication technologies for V2X

Awards include:

• TRB Best Paper Award (2025)
• NSF CAREER (2015)
• ASCE Fellow (2024)
• IEEE Senior Member (2022)
• Multiple institution-specific fellowships

He has advised 15+ graduate students, secured $35M+ in grants from NSF, USDOT, and industry partners, and chairs the IEEE ITSS Emerging Transportation Technology Testing committee. His work addresses real-world AV implementation, safety validation, and sustainable transportation systems.