CEE Faculty Profile

Biography

Before joining the faculty at Georgia Tech, Dr. Tsai worked as a senior research scientist in the GIS center at Georgia Tech. Since 1997, he has led a research team and worked with GDOT pavement engineers, successfully implementing a large-scale Oracle GIS-based pavement preservation and management system for GDOT to effectively preserve and manage its 18,000-centerline miles of highway. A series of models and programs developed by Dr. Tsai, including field pavement condition data acquisition, the annual pavement preservation project prioritization and program development, treatment determination model, cost model, and performance forecasting model, and long-term system performance simulation and optimization, have been successfully implemented by the Office of Maintenance of the GDOT. They have resulted very positive impact on GDOT's operations.

He has received the innovation award on GIS-enabled Ship Recognition - Innovation Research Grants for Transportation Security in 2007. He was named Chinese Chang Jiang Scholar in 2009 for his international recognition on pavement preservation and management using sensing and information technologies. The Chang Jiang Scholar is one of the most prestigious scholar honors in China.

His research focuses include spatial optimization of sensor and information technology and development of intelligent decision-support systems for improving roadway asset management with a special focus on pavements, roadway safety, and logistics. The sensor and information technology include vision, LiDAR, GPS/GIS technologies. He has actively developed ITS applications. He is the PI of a large-scale research project entitled, Remote Sensing and GIS-enabled Asset Management (RS-GAM), sponsored by US DOT to develop an intelligent roadway asset inventory and management system using emerging LiDAR, vision, and GPS/GIS technologies. He is also the PIs for two research projects sponsored by the National Academy of Science (NAS) NCHRP IDEA program on Video image recognition algorithms to enhance roadway infrastructure data collection, and on Development of Sensing Methodology for Intelligent and Reliable Work Zone Hazard Awareness. He is also the PI of License Plate Recognition, sponsored by the State Road and Tollway Authority (STRA), and the PIs for several research projects sponsored by GDOT, including Using Image Processing for Pavement Crack Growth Measurement-A Feasibility Study, and Development of Optimization Modules for GDOT Pavement Management System. He is also developing vehicle detection and tracking technologies for intelligent transportation system (ITS) and real-time traffic flow monitoring to improve road safety and mobility. He also works on logistics routing and scheduling for the United Parcel Service (UPS) and maximizing Port and Transportation System and logistics Productivity by Exploring Alternative Port Operation Strategies.