ASCE has honored Heng Wei, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, with the 2024 Frank M. Masters Transportation Engineering Award for innovative contributions preparing transportation facilities planning and design for the emerging era of automated transportation, through his ASCE-published book Disruptive Emerging Transportation Technologies.
During his long-time service as an active ASCE volunteer, Wei has contributed significantly to transportation engineering research and practice as well as the T&DI community. A transportation systems and engineering professional, he is also director of the civil engineering program and founding director of the ARTES program at the University of Cincinnati. Since joining UC (2004), he has achieved significant research accomplishments that include developing a video-capture-based method and software tool, VEVID, for extracting vehicle trajectory data on multiple lanes cost-effectively and accurately, contributing to driving behavior analysis, dilemma zone dynamics, and vehicle classification using dual-loop sensors. He also developed a framework for emergency evacuation planning models and a traffic control system for freeway bottlenecks and work zones, IUE2CB in partnership with the Beijing University of Technology for a Beijing Olympic Games research project in 2OO7, culminating in the publication of a text and papers published in world-renowned journals.
Wei also developed two environment-related tools – TAEHIA, funded by FHWA/ODOL and automating existing permanent traffic and air quality monitoring data for conformity project studies – and AIR-SUSTAIN, funded by the EPA, providing a G|S-based digital platform to analyze land use and socioeconomic adaptations to climate change.
As a member of T&DI’s CAV Impacts Committee, Wei is the lead editor and co-author of the text Disruptive Emerging Transportation Technologies, published by ASCE (2022). He is currently chair of the T&DI Emerging Technologies Council, co-chair of the TRB Standing Committee AED50, and chair of IEEE ITSS Travel Information and Traffic Management Committee.
The Frank M. Masters Transportation Engineering Award recognizes the best example of innovative or noteworthy planning, design, or construction of transportation facilities.
