Henry Posner, Anne Molloy, and Robert and Christine Pietrandrea Associate Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Heinz College
Courtesy Appointment, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Sean Qian is the Henry Posner, Anne Molloy, and Robert and Christine Pietrandrea Associate Professor jointly appointed at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (major) and Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy (minor) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).
He directs the Mobility Data Analytics Center (MAC) at CMU. Qian’s research interest lies in large-scale dynamic network modeling and big data analytics for multi-modal transportation systems, in development of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and in understanding infrastructure system interdependency.
His research has been supported by a number of public agencies and private firms, such as NSF, DOE, FHWA, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), IBM, Benedum Foundation, and Hillman Foundation.
Professor Qian serves an associate editor for Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, and an editorial board editor for Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, and is an active member of the Network Modeling Committee of Transportation Research Board.
He is the recipient of the NSF CAREER award in 2018 and Greenshields Prize from the Transportation Research Board in 2017. Qian was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University from 2011 to 2013, and received his Ph.D. degree in civil engineering at the University of California, Davis in 2011 and his MS degree in statistics at Stanford University in 2012.
2012 MS, Statistics, Stanford University
2011 Ph.D., Civil Engineering, UC Davis
2006 MS, Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University
2004 BS, Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University
CMU Engineering
A team lead by Costa Samaras and Thiago Rodrigues has shown that using small drones for the last mile of package deliveries uses less energy and creates fewer emissions than conventional means.
CMU Engineering
Causal modeling of the relationship between work zones and car accidents informs practices and policies that improve safety on the road.
Route Fifty
CEE’s Sean Qian spoke to Route Fifty about his team’s recent study of road accidents in work zones. The study found that crashes are less frequent in shorter work zones and tend to increase during the day.
Observer-Reporter
CEE’s Sean Qian and his Mobility Data Analytics Center (MAC) will be assisted in transportation surveys of residents for Carnegie Mellon’s Rural County Mobility Platform (RAMP) project by representatives from Waynesburg University’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.
US Department of Transportation
CEE’s Sean Qian has received a two-year grant from the United States Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration to create an AI-powered system to predict and respond to non-recurrent traffic events like accidents, severe weather, and road maintenance, among others.
CMU Engineering
Sean Qian and Weiran Yao have used data from twitter to solve one of the greatest hurdles in traffic prediction.
CMU Engineering
Sean Qian studied the relationship between Uber and public transportation, proving it can vary by time of day and location.
Forbes
CEE’s Sean Qian was cited in Forbes about how to increase ride-hailing service efficiency. He believes this can be achieved by incentivizing drivers to take specific paths and riders to avoid travel-heavy times.
CMU Engineering
Sean Qian aims to leverage the platform of ride-hailing companies to benefit everyone in the transportation system.
CMU Engineering
Sean Qian, Director of the Mobility Data Analytics Center, partnered with Gridwise, a local startup company, to optimize ridesharing platforms.
VentureBeat
A paper published by CEE’s Sean Qian, Xidong Pi, Wei Ma, and Shuguan Yang on an AI system the team created to predict parking occupancy in real time was the subject of a recent story in VentureBeat.
CMU Engineering
Costa Samaras and Sean Qian will head a DOE-funded analysis of next-generation delivery networks composed of aerial drones, robots, AVs, EVs, and “intelligent delivery zones.”