I currently supervise a number of doctoral research students (Ph.D and Eng.D) across the full range of my research interests.
The following are my current/previous research students and their topics that I supervise/co-supervise.
If you are interested in studying for a PhD or EngD in any aspect of my research then please contact me to discuss possibilities.
Andrew Hamilton
Optimising traffic movements in an urban environment
EngD. in collaboration with Siemens
This research project is investigating the potential improvements in traffic signal control systems that can be enabled by utilising improved data sources, focussing specifically on the benefits of knowing in advance the turning intention of every vehicle as it approaches either an isolated junction or series of connected junctions.
Anthony Velazquez
Reducing the carbon footprint in the food supply chain
EngD.in collaboration with Martin Brower
This research is investigating the ways in which adopting various alternative fleet technologies could positively contribute to decarbonizing the food logistics supply chain, through undertaking economic and technological appraisals to determine the optimal combination of low carbon alternatives for more efficient fleet operation.
Ben Norton
Sustainable ‘take-back' logistics for the charity sector
PhD. in collaboration with Oxfam
Oxfam operates a complex logistics operation servicing its UK stores and bring-banks. This enables the charity to transport goods between its stores for re-sale and take-back low-grade clothing to its sortation facility in Huddersfield for separation and onward processing. This research aims to help reduce the annual transport cost of these operations through optimising the use of the current regional and local transport fleets and improving donation bank performance through informed bank placement techniques.
Candice Howarth
Road traveller behavioural responses to environmental information
PhD supported by the MESSAGE project
26% of the UK's total greenhouse gas emissions come from the transport sector, of which road transport contributes 84%, leading to global climate change. As well as economic and technological approaches, schemes focussed around attitudinal and behavioural changes (related to road travel) are important to achieve both immediate and long-lasting benefits. This research therefore explores reasons for unsustainable travel behaviour and investigates the impact of increasing awareness and applying tailored information to individuals in order to encourage sustainable travel behaviour.
Chris Charles
Optimising urban parking operations
PhD.
The imperfect interactions between parking supply (spaces and costs), parking demand (durations) and parking behaviour (searching) create inefficiencies in the system that lead to traffic congestion, economic costs, increased pollutant emissions and increased frustration amongst drivers. This research is therefore considering the practical, environmental and economic consequences of operating air travel style pre-booking systems for private car-parking in urban areas.
Chris Osowski
Developing levels of service for non-motorised flows
PhD. in collaboration with the Institute for Complex Systems Simulation
The concept of ‘Level of Service' is often used to analyse roads by dividing traffic flows into bands which correspond to different driving conditions. While Level of Service is commonly applied to motorised transport however there has been far less research into equivalent bands for either cycle dominated or mixed pedestrian/cycle flows, with cycles often simply being considered as a small car and this research therefore seeks to develop better models of non-motorised flows and identify corresponding levels of service.
Farah Alkhalisi
Electric vehicle drivers and their use of digital media
PhD.
Transport users, cyclists and walkers are increasingly using digital technologies such as social media platforms, smartphone apps and crowd-sourced databases to overcome infrastructural shortfalls; for car-sharing; and for intermodal transport. Little is known, however, about the extent to which electric vehicle drivers could be similarly using digital resources related to, for example, location of public charging points; scheduling and remote monitoring of their cars' charging; or technical data and information-sharing. This research therefore attempts to understand the relationships between electric vehicle drivers and digital media.
Gavin Bailey
Investigating alternative supply chain strategies for Great Ormond Street Hospital
EngD. in collaboration with Transport for London and Great Ormond Street Hospital
This research involves the assessment of current NHS logistics practices for Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. The work involves evaluating a number of different strategies to improve the internal and external operation of hospital supply chain activities, with a key research focus being reducing the number of vehicles making deliveries during day-time hours.
James Hammond
Interactive learning environments to improve child road safety
EngD. in collaboration with Hampshire County Council
This research aims to assess the effectiveness of computer based interactive learning environments in aiding road safety amongst young children. The intention is to develop interactive learning environments to form part of an interactive training package complementing the volunteer contact time which forms a key feature of current pedestrian training schemes.
James Snowdon
Understanding the role of driver experience and its impact on en-route diversion choices
PhD. in collaboration with the Institute for Complex Systems Simulation
While traditional, aggregate techniques for transportation demand forecasting are capable of providing a single impression of road network usage, the consideration of individual traveller's decisions allows for varying levels of experience and the presence of more plausible decision rules to be explored along with their impact on traffic flows. This research focuses on determining and modelling driver routing reactions to incidents and unexpected congestion using a combination of information gathered within day, such as from variable message signs or the observed presence of congestion, and past experiences of the road network in previous trips.
Joshua Price
Human Factors in the Design of Traffic Management Systems
EngD. in collaboration with Siemens
This research aims to investigate the potential benefits a human factors design approach can have when applied to the development of the next generation of traffic management systems. Design techniques including ecological interface design and user centred design will be used to create a new design framework from which the next generation of traffic management system interfaces can be created.
Nicolas Rincon Garcia
Time-Dependent Vehicle Routing Problems for Flexible Logistics
PhD. supported by the Government of Colombia
The vehicle routing problem is one of the most widely studied theoretical problems in logistics. The basic formulation however is almost never applicable in reality and therefore over the years many variations have been proposed. Unfortunately, despite this attempt to make theory better reflect reality, theoretical models are often poorly suited to especially smaller or atypical logistics operations as they do not reflect the real constraints imposed by unpredictable real life scenarios. This research therefore seeks to develop improved implementations and better use of existing algorithms.
Oliver Laslett
Modelling the coevolution of land use and transport
PhD. in collaboration with the Institute for Complex Systems Simulation
The impact of land use on transport systems is a part of traditional transport demand models, with changes in land use being reflected as changes in levels of trip generation. More recently, the growing awareness of the impact of poor transport systems on accessibility and the need to more robustly quantify the wider benefits of transport system improvement schemes (e.g. faster rail connections between cities) has led to increased understanding of the impacts that good and poor transport systems can have on the attractiveness of surrounding land. This research therefore seeks to close the circle, to create a unified model linking both the impact of land use on transport and of transport on land use.
Scott Cruickshanks
Will privacy concerns be a barrier to the uptake of cooperative transport systems?
PhD. supported by the NEARCTIS project
While demonstrable benefits exist from increased levels of cooperation between transport infrastructure, vehicle systems and individual travellers, there is also the potential for such systems to be perceived as an invasion of personal privacy. This research aims to quantify perceptions of collaborative systems (across the European Union) in terms of whether people feel that the loss of privacy is outweighed by the gains received in return.
Shiaw Yin Yong
Investigating drivers' behaviour at intersections at the end of green time
PhD. supported by the Government of Brunei Darussalem
The behaviour of drivers when approaching a signal controlled intersection at the end of the green period (i.e. when the traffic signal turns to yellow/amber) is often referred to as the dilemma zone. Traditionally predictions of driver stop/go decisions within the dilemma zone are based on simplistic assumptions about vehicle speed and position, but this research aims to expand models to improve predictive accuracy.
Yok Hoe Yap
Modelling roundabout capacities
PhD. supported by the Government of Brunei Darussalem
The capacities of roundabouts are often determined using empirical relationships which predict entry capacity based primarily on geometry and circulating flows. This research aims to investigate the impact of additional factors which may have significant impact on roundabout capacities, especially related to multilane entries.
