UAE MAKING BETTER DECISIONS FOR A MORE SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT SECTOR

In this issue of Innovation@UAE Magazine, we interviewed Dr. Hamad Al Jassmi, an Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering at United Arab Emirates University, as well as the Director of Emirate Center for Mobility Research. In addition, he is a Research Fellow at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and holds the position of Vice-President of Al-Burj Engineering Consultants.

Dr. Hamad Al Jassmi

Assistant Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at the College of Engineering

United Arab Emirates University

Al Jassmi holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the School of Civil & Environmental Engineering at (UNSW) University of New South Wales in Australia. He is a well-published researcher with more than 50 research articles, as well as a US patent and several awards in research and innovation. Dr. Al Jassmi obtained his bachelor's degree with Honors and Master’s degrees from the United Kingdom at the University of Greenwich, and the University of Cardiff University respectively.

How environment shape his achievements

Born into a family of Engineers, his father, a civil engineer, founded Al Burj Engineering Consultants in 1982 which has carried out projects worth 50 billion AED since its inception. Not only is his father an engineer but his 5 other siblings are all civil engineers.

Dr. Hamad Al Jassmi states, “My father is my mentor, he dedicated his life to his profession, and he believed a lot in education. I also thank God (Allah) that I live in a country which generously supports education. The UAE government invests in its citizens and offers opportunities for higher educational studies. We are blessed and we should take the opportunities being offered to us.”

Innovative achievements

At just 38 years old he is already known for revolutionizing the delivery of infrastructure and transportation projects, which aligns with his belief that research is about challenging the convention. He is passionate not only about civil engineering but also about machine learning and data science and how both can deliver sustainable and efficient projects.

According to Dr. Al Jassmi, at the beginning of his research career, he was very much interested in digitizing infrastructure projects. As such, one of his first achievements was the design of a large-scale 3D printer which prints insulated compound material paste for building structures. This is how he received his U.S. patent.

This was in line with the UAE’s strategy to introduce 3D printing into the construction sector. The strategy entailed that a quarter of Dubai’s buildings will be 3D printed by 2030 as a part of the ‘Dubai 3D Printing Strategy’; led by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Today, according to Al Jassmi, 3D printing complements the current construction sector in terms of building materials, methods, and codes and does not replace it.

Introducing artificial intelligence and advanced mathematical models for remotely controlling labor productivity at manufacturing and construction sites, managing crowds at Haj and Umra seasons, optimizing mobility trends for safe road use, and developing decision support systems for sustainable transportation projects are all examples of current research projects he is currently engaged in.

He served as a member of the Manufacturing Council that draws the strategic plan of the National Advanced Sciences

Agenda 2031, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Innovation Award sponsored by H.H Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Mufakiru AlEmarat Science & Technology committee, a member of the national traffic safety committee of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, and many more high-profile committees.

As per Al Jassmi, the integration of his role as an academic and an industry professional has been essential in his success and innovations. He explains, “Engineering is a very applied domain, and as such it's essential to capitalize on state-ofthe-art theories and tools in light of what needs to be done on the ground. In short, I strive to get to know what science and innovation have best to offer the industry, as well as working on research topics that serve in advancing the transportation sector by keeping my hands dirty working on industry-related projects; this is a two-way process.”

He adds that by holding a professional position in the construction sector this has made him a better scholar because he is more in sync with the needs of the industry and as such doesnt feel out of context as a professor.

Sustainability through roads transport research

One of the most relevant research papers carried out by Dr. Al Jassmi is his research on “A Microsimulation Modeling Approach to Quantify Environmental Footprint of Autonomous Buses” published in Sustainability Journal 2022.

According to Al Jassmi, the research is significant because it carried out a life cycle assessment of road projects with sustainability in mind. As he explained, “When we start road construction projects, we start with a feasibility assessment that usually focuses on cost-benefit analyses, but we believe that there are always difficulties in comprehending the complexities involved in such a decision-making process given that planners today more than ever need to account for multi-criteria including a series of social and environmental sustainability implications. As such, we work on developing quantitative decision support systems that aid in assessing transportation project alternatives from a comprehensive life-cycle perspective, which blends micro-simulation models, mathematical optimization models, and carbon footprint estimations. We address the impact of transportation projects in their entire lifecycle, from day one of, say, road material extraction to 50 years of operation.”

This helps to better understand what the best alternatives for transportation are, whether adding three lanes all for private vehicles, or with one dedicated for autonomous rapid-bustransit service in the same right-of-way. He adds, “Our target is to develop methodologies that help decision makers decide what is the best alternative with the comprehensive life cycle assessment. This is more sustainable because it takes into account cost balanced and socio-environmental sustainability.”

Autonomous vehicles are a beneficial yet disruptive innovation propelling a potential paradigm shift in how we perceive mobility. AV-based mass-transit systems provide the added benefit of improved lane occupancy as the rapid vehicle-to-vehicle information exchange allows the vehicles to operate closer to each other (e.g., 2m for regular-size passenger cars). Transport accounts for 24% of global CO2 emissions with 45% contributed by passenger transport while NO x and PM emissions are also high. Yet, techno-economic transformation is missing an environmental assessment. This study projects the lifecycle quantitative benefit of the smooth acceleration-deceleration profile of AVs with the added value of better V2V communication for mass-transit units operating under optimum lane capacity, thereby advocating its opportunity to deal with climate change.

In the research, Al Jassmi states, “Our method used a traffic microsimulation modeling tool Vissim with EnViVer emission modeler based on VERSIT+ tailpipe pollutant emissions database using more than 12,000 vehicle and fuel types. High-resolution models were developed with the ability to predict acceleration-deceleration and vehicle fuel consumption behavior of individual vehicles (both AV buses & humanpiloted vehicles) within large urban traffic fleets. We modeled real-world vehicle volume, speed-time, and accelerationdeceleration profiles for a case study highway traffic fleet in Abu Dhabi under different traffic scenarios based on penetration rate, fuel-technology distribution, vehicle age and Euro-standard compliance level, public transport patronage, and frequencies. These models simulated vehicular transport on a per-second resolution scale over 30 years from 2015 to 2045. Results projected a 56% reduction in energy consumption (173,000 TJ) (A terajoule) a unit of measurement for energy consumption, 55% in CO 2 emissions (5.2 mega-tons), 50% in NOX (Nitrogen Oxides) emissions (6 kilo-tons), and 25% in PM ( Particulate Matter)emissions (141 kilo-tons).”

According to Al Jassmi, decision-makers can make use of microsimulation-based methodology for environmental assessment of urban systems developed to address the performance of autonomous mass-mobility against conventional approaches given the complexity involved when planning for road construction projects and all the factors that go into the planning.

Al Jassmi believes that the benefits incurred include saving millions if not billions of Dirhams.

The research was supported by the Department of Transportation in Abu Dhabi, now known as Integrated Transport Center in Abu Dhabi, and Abu Dhabi Municipality. Yet the implementation of this model within the organization will require new business models. The future

As per Al Jassmi, he will continue to utilize data science and the advancements of machine learning and open-source tools to develop methods that will help the decision-making process and optimize transportation projects to improve safety, sustainability, and cost.

He will focus on emerging technologies that have been tested and proven to be feasible because future foresight is less about science fiction and more about being wise and understanding what is coming and what to focus on.

In conclusion, Al Jassmi believes that challenging the convention is what being a scholar and researcher is all about. The great thing is that your job pays you to be innovative, so UAE nationals should utilize this.

He ends “Our government and families have supported us, go study and flourish.”