Cognizant Transportation Systems: Challenges and Opportunities

Dr. A. Veeraragavan retired as a Professor from the Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. He has over four decades of experience in teaching, research, and industrial consultancy. Dr. Veeraragavan received the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award in 1994. He was also conferred with the National Award for Promising Engineering College Teacher in India by the Indian Society for Technical Education and the Vishwakarma Award (under the category of Outstanding Academician/Technologist/Scientist/Innovator) by the Construction Industry Development Council. The IIT Madras Alumni Association also bestowed him with an award for ‘distinguished services rendered to the Institute’. He has published more than 100 research papers in national and international journals and over 150 papers in national and international conference proceedings. He has received Indian Roads Congress (IRC) medals for his best papers, IRC commendation certificates and the UGC Career Award. He has coordinated several major sponsored research projects. Dr. Veeraragavan has co-authored five books, namely ‘Surveying’, ‘Highway Engineering’, ‘Highway Materials and Pavement Testing’, ‘Pavement Drainage – Theory and Practice’ and ‘Uka and Bituminous Road Construction in India’. He is a fellow of the Institution of Engineers (India) and the International Society for Engineering Asset Management. Dr. Samson Mathew is a Professor of Civil Engineering at NIT, Tiruchirappalli. He is currently on deputation as the Director of the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC), a research and development institute of the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE). Dr. Mathew has previously served as the dean of student welfare and dean of planning and development at NIT Tiruchirappalli. He has worked in diverse fields of transportation including transportation planning, traffic safety, intelligent transportation systems, pavement engineering, and geographic information systems. Dr. Mathew has successfully completed 12 research projects with various Indian government bodies, including the Ministry of Human Resources Development, the National Rural Road Development Agency, the Ministry of Urban Development, and the Coir Board. He was also a member of the State Technical Agency of Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) programme for Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. He has supervised 10 Ph.D. students and 75 postgraduate students. He has more than 60 refereed publications and 100 conference papers to his credit. He is also a member of several professional organizations, such as the Indian Roads Congress, Indian Society for Technical Education, Institute of Urban Transport, Institution of Engineers, and Transport Research Group of India. He has visited several countries like Singapore, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Hungary, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan as a part of his academic programs. Dr. Priya R. is working as an Associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Trivandrum CET. She completed her bachelor's degree in Civil engineering from M.A. College of Engineering Kothamangalam, Kerala and her post-graduation in traffic and transportation planning from the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Calicut. She completed her doctoral degree from IIT Madras. Dr. Priya R. has more than 22 years of experience in teaching, research, and consultancy.  Her field of interest is pavement engineering, particularly pavement management systems, material characterization of hot mix and cold mix asphalt, and forensic investigation of pavements. She has completed six projects in the field of pavement engineering and has published papers in international journals and international and national conferences. She has also guided projects at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Dr. Priya R. was a member of the Transportation Research Centre from 2012 to 2019 and is also a member of the State Technical Committee, Kerala. She has conducted seven workshops/training programs for faculty members, students, and practicing engineers from government and private organizations.  Dr. Harikrishna M. is working as an Associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, NIT, Calicut. He has completed his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the College of Engineering Trivandrum, Kerala University, and his master’s degree from the College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University. He completed his doctoral studies at IIT Roorkee. His research interests include travel behavior modeling, stated and revealed preference survey planning and design, and capacity and level of service estimation of transport facilities. He has published several research papers in international and national journals and conference proceedings. He has co-supervised the completion of Ph.D. degrees for two students and has guided several projects at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He is also guiding two research scholars for Ph.D.  Dr. Harikrishna M is a member of the team set up under the Training and Research in Frontier Areas (FAST) scheme by the Centre for Transportation Research of the Centre of Excellence, with the support of the Ministry of Education, Government of India. He has conducted faculty development programs in the areas of urban transport systems planning, traffic engineering, and advanced surveying. He is also a member of professional bodies, such as the Indian Roads Congress and the Indian Society for Technical Education.

• Pavement Material Characterization, Design, Construction & Management.- Theme II: Travel Demand Modelling & Forecasting.-Theme III: Traffic Flow Modelling and Safety.- Theme IV: Intelligent Transportation System.- Theme V: Logistics and Freight Transport.- Theme VI: Environment & Sustainability in Transportation.