Professor Gao is a faculty member in:
the graduate field of Civil and Environmental Engineering
the graduate field of Systems Engineering
the graduate field of Atmospheric Science/Air Quality
The traditional challenge for transportation engineers to create a massive transportation infrastructure has been partially replaced by increasing emphasis on infrastructure maintenance/revitalization and overall system optimization. In particular, societal concerns for sustainable development, energy conservation and improvement of environmental quality have expanded more than ever the roles of both transportation and environmental engineers/scholars. These changes have demanded closer collaborations between the two disciplines and called for innovative cross-disciplinary research in the design, analysis, operation, and management of transportation and environment systems, and their interactions. The Clean Air Act Amendment (1991) (CAAA) mandates enforcement of State Implementation Plans (SIPs) by adopting transportation conformity to control on-road transportation emissions. The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991, now the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), requires that state DOTs and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) combine their practice of transportation planning and transportation control measures (TCMs) with air quality modeling.
Dr. Gao's research interests lie in environment, energy and transportation systems and their interactions with other infrastructure systems and natural resources. He is specially interested in transportation/environment planning and clean transportation/energy alternatives (e.g., clean diesel technology); large, spatially-indexed transportation and environment database, development of higher time and space-resolved transportation activities and emissions inventories (e.g., modal emissions, real-world on-board vehicle operation and emissions modeling) for air quality simulation; heavy-duty truck traffic and freight transportation; transportation network simulation and urban traffic management models applied to relevant environmental issues; mobile emissions budget analysis and environmental impact evaluation of new transportation technologies and control measures (e.g., ITS, hybrid electric vehicles, HOT and HOV lanes, etc) in transportation conformity and State Implementation Plan development. Transportation control implications and applications in developing countries are also of his interest. In pursuit of sustainable transportation systems and successful air pollution control strategies, he has studied impacts of transportation emissions on air quality by looking into time and space-resolved road network passenger vehicle and heavy-duty freight truck traffic, mobile emissions inventories estimation, and air quality measurements data analysis.
Last two books read (summer 2005):
The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century, by Thomas L.
Friedman, a foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times.
J. Robert Oppenheimer : And the American Century, by David Cassidy
Research Projects:
PI: Diesel Retrofit Assessment and Development of a Decision Supporting System for NYSDOT to Retrofit its Existing Diesel Engine Fleet, May 2008-November 2009, sponsored by New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and US DOT
PI: Modeling Air Quality and Energy Impacts of NYSDOT Highway ROW Management, May 2008-April 2009, sponsored by New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and US DOT
Co-PI: Data analysis and statistical modeling of patient outcome and nurse staffing, Jan 2008-Dec. 2008. sponsored by KAISER
Co-PI: Modeling Microenvironment Air Quality in Rochester, NY, June 2008-May 2010, sponsored by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
Co-PI: Hot-Spot Analysis of Fine Particles (PM2.5) for Environmental and Health Impacts Assessment of Transportation Emissions in South Bronx, Jan 2008-Dec 2008, Sponsored by 2008 UTRC2 research initiative
PI: A Comprehensive Study of the NYS Clean School Bus Program: Operations and Potential Improvement for Effective Diesel Emission Reduction, Feb 2008-May 2009. Sponsored by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
PI: Impacts of Clean Diesel Strategies/Technologies on Air Quality and Exposure in New York, Feb 2008-Jan 2010. Sponsored by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
