TISE Program Area Highlight

Faculty members in the TISE program achieved notable milestones this year. Alexander Brand was named a College of Engineering Faculty Fellow and received the Early Career Award from the Cements Division of the American Ceramic Society. Sami Hasnine developed AI models, including tools to predict mobility patterns, a Transportation Demand Management system for the Virginia Department of Transportation and an Urban Air Mobility model for Houston. Hesham Rakha was elected to the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine and the National Academy of Artificial Intelligence and named a fellow of the International Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance. Debakanta Mishra joined TISE as an associate professor in August 2025. Gerardo Flintsch earned the Wilbur S. Smith Award from ASCE, a Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research, and chaired the PIARC International Seminar on Transport Asset Management. Antonio Trani’s lab advanced FAA and NASA projects with runway and aircraft systems analysis tools. Bryan Katz advised the ITE student chapter, whose Traffic Bowl team won the Southern District competition. Susan Hotle created an automated Airport Layout Updater and advanced DOT collaborations. Montasir Abbas completed a $2.4 million USDOT project and delivered an invited talk highlighting creativity in transportation management.