Curriculum Vitae
Education
PhD (with MSc) in Civil Engineering
University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA | 2012 - 2019
Thesis: Drivers' Trust in Automated Vehicles with Varied Levels of System Reliability
BSc in Civil Engineering
Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran | 2008 - 2012
Professional Experience
Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering
Birmingham City University, UK | July 2021 - Present
- Design and deliver modules for the Civil Engineering program including Advanced Analysis and Design, Civil Engineering Design Project, and Civil Engineering Applications
- Serve as Year Lead for Level 5 students
- Supervise final year projects, MSc projects, and PhD projects focused on takeover control in highly automated vehicles
- Contribute to research excellence and student experience
- Serve on the Civil Engineering Industry Advisory Board
Research Degree Coordinator, department of Architecture and Built Environment
Birmingham City University, UK | June 2025 - Present
- Progress monitoring: Track milestones, annual reviews, ethics approvals, and ensure regulatory compliance.
- Supervisory coordination: Appoint supervisory teams, monitor workloads, and organize training programmes.
- Examinations: Coordinate examiner appointments, thesis submissions, vivas, and outcome processing.
- Student support: Act as primary contact, maintain records, support student experience, and manage quality assurance.
Research Fellow in Human Factors and Safety Group
Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, UK | May 2018 - July 2021
- Developed advanced L4 vehicle control system to emulate natural, human-like driving style (HumanDrive project)
- Investigated individuals' trust in automated vehicles (Trustonomy project)
- Explored effect of persuasive communication technologies on encouraging active and sustainable transportation (ADAPT/BetterPoints)
- Refined research questions, developed experiments, analyzed data, and modeled human behavior
- Disseminated results through journal and conference papers
- Represented the team at meetings, workshops, and conferences
Research Intern
Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, Hopkinton, MA, USA | Summer 2016
- Designed experiments on inattentional blindness for task-critical information in driving
- Created scenarios in driving simulator to examine situational and individual difference predictors
- Developed platform to transfer scenarios across desktop and full-scale driving simulator
- Investigated detecting drivers' task involvement using motion tracking and machine learning
Research Intern
UMass Transit Certificate Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA | Summer 2014
- Investigated effectiveness of bus route operations in college town transit system
- Analyzed datasets of manual and automatic passenger counts
- Optimized bus capacity allocation to driving shifts to increase service efficiency
Research Interests
- Transport Safety and Automated Vehicles
- Driver Behavior and Human Factors
- Human Interaction with Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAV)
Awards & Honors
PhD Project Funding
Birmingham City University | Summer 2022
International Road Federation Fellow
International Road Federation | Spring 2014
NEITE Best Poster Award
New England ITE | Spring 2016
NEITE Third Best Poster Award
New England ITE | Spring 2015
Professional Memberships
- Journal of Transportation Safety & Security—Reviewer
- Transportation Research Board (TRB)—Member
- International Road Federation (IRF)—Fellow
- International Transportation Engineers (ITE)—Member
- Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS) UMass—Past Treasurer
- Iranian Graduate Students Association (IGSA)—Past Board Member
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