Welcome to the DRRN member highlight! Every few weeks we will spotlight a member of the DRRN, starting with those who are part of the newly-launched Academic Advisory Panel. This week, meet Suliman Gargoum!
Suliman Gargoum
Assistant Professor
UBC Okanagan School of Engineering - Civil Engineering
Expertise: Resilient Transportation Infrastructure, Infrastructure Digitization, Road Safety Analytics
1. Could you introduce yourself and tell us about your current research?
I'm an Assistant Professor at The University of British Columbia's School of Engineering and the Founding Director of the Smart Analytics Lab for Modelling Advanced and Livable Infrastructure Systems (SALMALIS). My research focuses on the use of Artificial Intelligence and smart sensing technology for advanced road safety analytics, creation of digital twins for informed design and management of transportation infrastructure.
Over the past five years, I have published over 45 peer-reviewed research papers in top tier transportation journals and conference proceedings and have received multiple best paper and best presentation awards. This includes a number of accolades from the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC), the US Transportation Research Board (TRB). I was also named the 2023 TAC Young Professional of the Year and received the University of Alberta 2023 Alumni Innovation Award for my work on utilizing technology for infrastructure management.
2. What motivated you to become a part of the DRRN community?
We live in an age where climate change and the associated natural disasters have posed incredible challenges, however, along with those challenges we are presented with many opportunities. This is the era of AI and big data and I believe our role as researchers is to utilize the advancement in technology to to address and mitigate the issues we face.
3. What do you wish practitioners or policymakers would ask you about your research? What insights would you like to share with them?
Climate change and the resulting natural disasters have posed unprecedented challenges for agencies and governments. However, these challenges arise at a time when technologies like remote sensing, big data, and AI are flourishing. My research focuses on leveraging these technologies to provide insights into infrastructure performance, helping decision-makers make more informed and proactive decisions. Practitioners and policymakers might ask how AI and remote sensing can be utilized to build more robust decision support systems for managing infrastructure.