The Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS) celebrated the research achievements of graduating doctoral candidates at a special Ph.D. Transportation Seminar on Friday, May 2. The event featured presentations from four scholars whose work spans transportation engineering, planning, climate resilience, automation, and mobility equity.
Ph.D. Student, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Class of 2025
Advised by CEE Assistant Professor Maria Laura Dell Monache
Talk: From Connected to Coordinated – Distributed Intelligence and Centralized Coordination for Connected Autonomous Vehicles
Han Wang’s dissertation explores how connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs) can evolve from isolated, connected agents into a coordinated system that improves traffic performance and safety. His work draws from the CIRCLES project, the world’s largest open-road CAV field test, where he led the development of real-time speed optimization for 100 vehicles on the I-24 MOTION testbed.
By integrating reinforcement learning and real-time control strategies, Han demonstrates how even modest AV adoption can yield meaningful gains in traffic efficiency. His research addresses critical challenges in multi-agent coordination, human-CAV interactions, and scalable deployment, contributing to the broader goal of building smarter, more adaptive transportation systems.