Internationally renowned US-Australian transport researcher Prof. S. Travis Waller takes over Lighthouse Professorship "Transport Modelling and Simulation” at the “Friedrich List” Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences

This appointment is a major international success for TU Dresden in the competition for the best researchers worldwide: the US-Australian and transport visionary Prof. Dr. S. Travis Waller (48) will take over the leadership of the new Lighthouse Professorship "Transport Modelling and Simulation" at the "Friedrich List” Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences at TU Dresden (TUD) in April 2022. "The establishment of this new professorship and the subsequent appointment is an important milestone for the Faculty on its way to being a national leader and internationally recognised in transport research and teaching by 2030." Prof. Waller and his future team are to play a significant role in the development of the potential area of "Automated and Networked Mobility" at the University of Excellence TU Dresden.

An international search committee appointed by the Rector, consisting of renowned transport scientists (head: Prof. Dr. Kay W. Axhausen, ETH Zurich), had been looking internationally last year for suitable candidates to fill the professorship in an outstanding way. The choice finally fell on S. Travis Waller, professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney (Australia) since 2011 and head of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering as well as founder of the Research Center for Integrated Transport Innovation (rCITI) there.

Mathematical representations and modelling of innovative transport systems

Engineer S. Travis Waller is a world-class researcher in the field of simulation and modelling of innovative transport systems. His work has supported stakeholders worldwide in the planning and design of mobility and infrastructure for more than 20 years. A central theme of his current research is the development of quantified methods for transport system modelling with consideration of equity, fairness, environmental impacts and other ethics-related impacts of transport.

He was not actively looking for a new challenge, says Prof. Waller. "But the approach of such a highly decorated search committee and the offer to contribute to the development of the potential area of ‘Automated and Networked Mobility’ in the heart of Europe really appealed to me. I am also excited by the breadth and depth of research at the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences – from researchers in engineering disciplines such as transport, electrical engineering or mechanical engineering, to computer science, transport ecology and transport economics, to transport psychology, everything is here. This already enables very interdisciplinary work in-house and is very exciting for me and my research." In addition, the move to Dresden will bring him "a little closer" to his family in the north-east of the USA, says S. Travis Waller with a twinkle in his eye.

Appointment is boost for transport and traffic science research at TU Dresden

"Bringing S. Travis Waller to TU Dresden is a great success for us and at the same time stands for the good reputation and the attraction of our university of excellence worldwide," says Prof. Ursula M. Staudinger, Rector of TU Dresden. "With Prof. Waller, research in transport and traffic sciences at TU Dresden gains an outstanding expert with important interdisciplinary connections to computer science and the social sciences. At the same time, he can draw on a wide range of experience in cooperation with industry. Travis Waller increases the visibility of our unique Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences on the international stage. His research focus and his international networking will give the TUD's potential area of 'Automated and Networked Mobility' important development impulses towards a future application for a cluster of excellence," says the Rector.

At the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, the new colleague is looked forward to "with joy and enthusiasm working together", as the Dean, Prof. Günther Prokop, puts it. "Mobility is a basic need of every society. It must be reliable, comfortable and safe for people, goods and information, but also ecologically sustainable as well as compatible with urban planning and the economy and technologically feasible. This is a systemic task with strong and diverse interactions from many disciplines. The lighthouse professorship ,Transport Modelling and Simulation’ is centrally necessary to master this complexity. The appointment of Prof. Waller is a milestone for the faculty," explains the dean.

About the person
S. Travis Waller was born and raised in Ironton, Ohio/USA. After receiving his Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from The Ohio State University in 1997, he went to Northwestern University, where he received his Master's degree in Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences in 1999 and his PhD in the same subject in 2000. This was followed by positions as assistant professor and professor at the Universities of Illinois and Austin/Texas until 2011. He then moved to the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney/Australia as the Evans & Peck Chair professor, where he founded the Research Centre for Integrated Transport Innovation (rCITI) and was its director until 2018 when he became Deputy Dean of Research for UNSW Engineering.

Prof Waller is considered a visionary for transport issues. For example, in the early 2000s he was already working on how electric and automated vehicles can be integrated into existing infrastructures. His specific methodological research contributions include dynamic traffic assignment, stochastic routing, network design, intelligent transport systems planning, mobility as a service, adaptive equilibrium, network behaviour under information and two-stage optimisation of mobility networks.

He was named one of the world's 100 leading innovators in science and technology under the age of 35 in 2003, received the U.S. National Science Foundation's CAREER Award in 2004, and the Fred Burggraf Award in 2009 and the Pyke Johnson Award in 2019, both from the U.S. Transportation Research Board (a division of the U.S. National Academies).

Further information: https://research.unsw.edu.au/people/professor-s-travis-waller

About the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences at the TU Dresden:
The faculty is the only one in Germany dedicated to transport and traffic sciences and has an internationally recognized competence for sustainable mobility. The interdisciplinary research covers the entire range of transport on land and in the air. The faculty is a pioneer in the development of systemic solutions for the design of safe, efficient and sustainable transport systems according to technical, economic, ecological and social criteria. Research and teaching are interdisciplinary networked within the TU Dresden and the DRESDEN-concept network as well as together with national and international partners from science and practice. More than 200 scientists research and teach at seven institutes and 20 professorships. The faculty offers 6 own study programs, including the diploma degree in Transport Engineering, the bachelor degree in Transport Economics and 4 master programs. For practical applications in research and teaching, the researchers and 1,000 students of the faculty have access to around 30 laboratories or experimental and test facilities. Further information: https://tu-dresden.de/bu/verkehr

Media inquiries:
Mrs. Anke Richter-Baxendale
Public Relations & Communcations
"Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences
Tel.: +49 351 463-34908