Dr. Lei Zhu

Education: Ph.D., Civil Engineering (Transportation Engineering), The University of Arizona; M.S., Electrical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China; B.S., Electrical Engineering, Dalian Maritime University

Biography:

Dr. Lei Zhu is an accomplished researcher and Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. With an impressive academic and professional background, he has made significant contributions to the field of Smart and Sustainable Mobility Systems, specializing in Spatial Sensing Technologies.

Dr. Zhu’s research interests revolve around the integration of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence in Transportation, along with a focus on Shared and Automated Mobility and Micro-mobility Modeling and Simulation. He is an expert in utilizing cutting-edge spatial sensing technologies like GPS, GIS, LiDAR, Cameras, and Radar for Smart Mobility applications.

His remarkable achievements have earned him various accolades, including the Best Poster Award at the ASCE International Conference on Transportation & Development (ICTD) in 2018 and the prestigious NREL Director’s Award in 2016. Dr. Zhu is highly regarded in the academic community and serves as an outstanding reviewer for prominent journals like Transportation Research Part C and Case Studies on Transport Policy published by Elsevier.

Prior to joining UNC Charlotte, Dr. Zhu served as an Advanced Transportation Researcher at the prestigious National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado. He also worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), further honing his expertise in transportation engineering.