International Conference on Traffic & Transportation Studies (ICTTS)-Keynote Speaker

Michael J. Cassidy

Michael J. Cassidy is a Chancellor’s Professor and the Robert Horonjeff Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also serves as the Vice Chair for Undergraduate Studies. He earned his Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering from UC Berkeley.

With over 30 years of academic expertise, Professor Cassidy’s research primarily focuses on traffic and transportation operations, traffic control, and public transit systems. He is dedicated to enhancing urban sustainability through the reorganization of traffic flows, the segregation of multimodal travel, and the design of dedicated lanes. His representative work includes using agent-based simulations to explore the synergistic effects of congestion pricing and left-turn prohibitions, as well as developing urban network optimization strategies aimed at reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and vehicle hours traveled (VHT). A renowned international expert in transportation engineering, Professor Cassidy has published over 80 papers in leading peer-reviewed journals and has supervised more than 25 Ph.D. dissertations.

Dennis Huisman
Dennis Huisman is a part-time professor Public Transport Optimization at the Econometric Institute, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam. In addition, he has a part-time position as expertise manager logistic processes at Netherlands Railways (NS). Dennis’ current research focuses on Operations Research models and techniques that can support the planning and operations of public transport operators in relation to complex logistical issues. At NS, he gives advice to senior management on complex logistical issues and coordinates NS’ research activities in a large European innovation project within Europe’s Rail (Motional).

He was a member of Netherlands Railways team that won the Franz Edelman Award, also known as the Super Bowl of Operations Research, in 2008. Professor Huisman is a co-founder of the Erasmus Center for Optimization in Public Transport. He obtained his PhD from Erasmus University Rotterdam in 2004. His PhD thesis dealt with integrated and dynamic vehicle and crew scheduling.

Xiaopeng (Shaw) Li
Dr. Xiaopeng (Shaw) Li is currently Harvey D. Spangler Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and an affiliate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW). He directs the USDOT Rural Autonomous Vehicle Program for Passenger Transportation. He also serves as the Executive Director of Smart Highway Research Center (SHRC) at UW. He founded the Connected and Automated Transportation Systems Lab, which developed a multi-scale CAV testbed. Previously, he directed the USDOT National University Transportation Center (NICR). He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award and has led over $40 million in federal, state, and industry-funded projects, plus $39 million in matching funds, mostly as the PI. He has published 150+ journal papers. He holds a P.E. license in Wisconsin, is an ASCE Fellow, and leads the ASCE Smart Infrastructure Task Force. He also serves as the Interim Vice President for Education of IEEE ITSS. He has served as a Co-Editor-in-Chief for Communications in Transportation Research and an associate editor for several journals, including ASCE Journal of Urban Planning & Development, ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Transportation Research Part E, IEEE TITS, and IEEE ITSM. His research interests include autonomous vehicles (AV) evaluation, connected vehicles (CV), sensing with spatial intelligence, and transportation systems analysis.

Lei Nie
Lei Nie is a Professor and the Executive Vice President of Lanzhou Jiaotong University. She also holds a professorship at the School of Traffic and Transportation, Beijing Jiaotong University. With over 30 years of research experience in high-speed railway transportation organization technology, Professor Nie currently holds several key positions: Member of the Expert Committee, Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China; Executive Vice Chair of the Transportation Committee of the China Railway Society; Vice Chair of the Teaching Guidance Subcommittee for Transportation Majors under Ministry of Education; Board Member of the International Association of Railway Operations Research (IAROR); and Associate Editor of the Journal of Rail Transport Planning & Management (JRTPM). She has published over 100 academic papers, and serves as the chief editor of High-Speed Railway Transportation Organization, a volume in the China High-Speed Railway Engineering Technology Innovation Series.

Yahua(Shane) Zhang
Yahua(Shane) Zhang is a Professor of Aviation at Adelaide University. He is recognised for his research in transport economics, aviation management and policy, and sustainable aviation fuel. Professor Zhang has published widely in leading transport and economics journals and has led and contributed to research projects funded by organisations including the World Bank, APEC, Meat & Livestock Australia, the Queensland Government, the Marine Bioproduct Cooperative Research Centre, and the National Foundation for Australia–China Relations.

His topic will focus on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) development in Australia and China, with particular attention to the cooperation potential between the two countries in advancing SAF production, policy frameworks, and industry partnerships.

Zuduo Zheng
Dr Zuduo Zheng is a Professor in the School of Civil Engineering at The University of Queensland (UQ), an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow, a former ARC DECRA Fellow, and a member of the ARC College of Experts. He also serves as the Deputy TAP Chair, sponsored by the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, and is the founder of the Multi-Modal Connected & Automated Transport Lab (M2CAT; http://www.connectedandautonomoustransport.com/).
Professor Zheng’s research focuses on emerging mobility technologies, especially connected and automated vehicles, and their impacts on transportation systems. His work is highly cited, and he has received numerous awards for both his research and teaching, including the Cunard Award, Greenshields Prize, David Willis Memorial Prize, Awards for Excellence in Higher Degree by Research Supervision, Citation for Excellence in Student Learning (winner at the EAIT Faculty and a finalist at UQ), and others. He also serves and has served on the editorial boards of several leading journals.
He is a strong advocate for reproducible research and open science, having co-founded the REproducible Research In Transportation Engineering (RERITE) Working Group (https://www.rerite.org/), and received UQ’s inaugural Open Research Fellowship in 2024 and Research Culture Award in 2025. He hosts “Small Talk with Myself” (https://smalltalkwithmyself.podbean.com/) — a podcast for PhD students and early-career academics.

Michael J. Cassidy	Michael J. Cassidy is a Chancellor’s Professor and the Robert Horonjeff Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also serves as the Vice Chair for Undergraduate Studies. He earned his Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering from UC Berkeley. With over 30 years of academic expertise, Professor Cassidy’s research primarily focuses on traffic and transportation operations, traffic control, and public transit systems. He is dedicated to enhancing urban sustainability through the reorganization of traffic flows, the segregation of multimodal travel, and the design of dedicated lanes. His representative work includes using agent-based simulations to explore the synergistic effects of congestion pricing and left-turn prohibitions, as well as developing urban network optimization strategies aimed at reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and vehicle hours traveled (VHT). A renowned international expert in transportation engineering, Professor Cassidy has published over 80 papers in leading peer-reviewed journals and has supervised more than 25 Ph.D. dissertations.

Dennis Huisman	Dennis Huisman is a part-time professor Public Transport Optimization at the Econometric Institute, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam. In addition, he has a part-time position as expertise manager logistic processes at Netherlands Railways (NS). Dennis’ current research focuses on Operations Research models and techniques that can support the planning and operations of public transport operators in relation to complex logistical issues. At NS, he gives advice to senior management on complex logistical issues and coordinates NS’ research activities in a large European innovation project within Europe’s Rail (Motional). He was a member of Netherlands Railways team that won the Franz Edelman Award, also known as the Super Bowl of Operations Research, in 2008. Professor Huisman is a co-founder of the Erasmus Center for Optimization in Public Transport. He obtained his PhD from Erasmus University Rotterdam in 2004. His PhD thesis dealt with integrated and dynamic vehicle and crew scheduling.


Xiaopeng (Shaw) Li	Dr. Xiaopeng (Shaw) Li is currently Harvey D. Spangler Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and an affiliate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW). He directs the USDOT Rural Autonomous Vehicle Program for Passenger Transportation. He also serves as the Executive Director of Smart Highway Research Center (SHRC) at UW. He founded the Connected and Automated Transportation Systems Lab, which developed a multi-scale CAV testbed. Previously, he directed the USDOT National University Transportation Center (NICR). He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award and has led over $40 million in federal, state, and industry-funded projects, plus $39 million in matching funds, mostly as the PI. He has published 150+ journal papers. He holds a P.E. license in Wisconsin, is an ASCE Fellow, and leads the ASCE Smart Infrastructure Task Force. He also serves as the Interim Vice President for Education of IEEE ITSS. He has served as a Co-Editor-in-Chief for Communications in Transportation Research and an associate editor for several journals, including ASCE Journal of Urban Planning & Development, ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Transportation Research Part E, IEEE TITS, and IEEE ITSM. His research interests include autonomous vehicles (AV) evaluation, connected vehicles (CV), sensing with spatial intelligence, and transportation systems analysis.

Lei Nie	Lei Nie is a Professor and the Executive Vice President of Lanzhou Jiaotong University. She also holds a professorship at the School of Traffic and Transportation, Beijing Jiaotong University. With over 30 years of research experience in high-speed railway transportation organization technology, Professor Nie currently holds several key positions: Member of the Expert Committee, Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China; Executive Vice Chair of the Transportation Committee of the China Railway Society; Vice Chair of the Teaching Guidance Subcommittee for Transportation Majors under Ministry of Education; Board Member of the International Association of Railway Operations Research (IAROR); and Associate Editor of the Journal of Rail Transport Planning & Management (JRTPM). She has published over 100 academic papers, and serves as the chief editor of High-Speed Railway Transportation Organization, a volume in the China High-Speed Railway Engineering Technology Innovation Series.


Yahua(Shane) Zhang	Yahua(Shane) Zhang is a Professor of Aviation at Adelaide University. He is recognised for his research in transport economics, aviation management and policy, and sustainable aviation fuel. Professor Zhang has published widely in leading transport and economics journals and has led and contributed to research projects funded by organisations including the World Bank, APEC, Meat & Livestock Australia, the Queensland Government, the Marine Bioproduct Cooperative Research Centre, and the National Foundation for Australia–China Relations. His topic will focus on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) development in Australia and China, with particular attention to the cooperation potential between the two countries in advancing SAF production, policy frameworks, and industry partnerships.


Zuduo Zheng	Dr Zuduo Zheng is a Professor in the School of Civil Engineering at The University of Queensland (UQ), an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow, a former ARC DECRA Fellow, and a member of the ARC College of Experts. He also serves as the Deputy TAP Chair, sponsored by the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, and is the founder of the Multi-Modal Connected & Automated Transport Lab (M2CAT; http://www.connectedandautonomoustransport.com/). Professor Zheng’s research focuses on emerging mobility technologies, especially connected and automated vehicles, and their impacts on transportation systems. His work is highly cited, and he has received numerous awards for both his research and teaching, including the Cunard Award, Greenshields Prize, David Willis Memorial Prize, Awards for Excellence in Higher Degree by Research Supervision, Citation for Excellence in Student Learning (winner at the EAIT Faculty and a finalist at UQ), and others. He also serves and has served on the editorial boards of several leading journals. He is a strong advocate for reproducible research and open science, having co-founded the REproducible Research In Transportation Engineering (RERITE) Working Group (https://www.rerite.org/), and received UQ’s inaugural Open Research Fellowship in 2024 and Research Culture Award in 2025. He hosts “Small Talk with Myself” (https://smalltalkwithmyself.podbean.com/) — a podcast for PhD students and early-career academics.