Karim El-Basyouny, PhD, PEng

/Ka-Reem Ehl Bas-yoo-nee/

Professor, Faculty of Engineering - Civil and Environmental Engineering Dept
Associate Dean (Research Infrastructure and Innovation), Faculty of Engineering - Deans Office

Pronouns: he, him

Contact

Professor, Faculty of Engineering - Civil and Environmental Engineering Dept
Email
basyouny@ualberta.ca
Phone
(780) 492-9564
Address
6-265 Donadeo Innovation Centre For Engineering
9211 116 St
Edmonton AB
T6G 2H5

Associate Dean (Research Infrastructure and Innovation), Faculty of Engineering - Deans Office
Email
basyouny@ualberta.ca

Overview

Area of Study / Keywords

Engineering Faculty Executive Transportation Engineering Road Safety Remote Sensing Infrastructure Digitization


About

Dr. Karim El-Basyouny is a Professor and holds an endowed chair position in urban traffic safety at the University of Alberta. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the province of Alberta and holds Master's and Ph.D. degrees in Transportation Engineering from the University of British Columbia. Passionate about safety, Karim has dedicated his research and professional career to advancing our understanding of increasing safety and improving mobility for all road users. Over the past decade, his research on safety management has informed public policy and practice. He views safety as a product akin to any other good or service and advocates for a management framework that fosters a safe system. His ultimate aim is to stir discussion on crucial yet often overlooked issues to move towards a system free of death and disability. Karim actively participates in multiple national and international safety committees and serves on the editorial boards of several prestigious journals. Throughout his academic journey, he has earned several notable awards for his research and leadership contributions.

Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Civil Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, 2011.
  • Engineering Management Sub-specialization, Civil Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, 2010.
  • Master of Applied Science, Civil Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, 2006.
  • Bachelor's degree (ABET Equivalent), Civil & Environmental Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, UAE, 2003.


Professional Experience

  • Professor, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, July 2022 to present.
  • City of Edmonton Urban Traffic Safety Research Chair, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, July 2011 to present.
  • Associate Professor, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, July 2017 to June 2022.
  • Assistant Professor, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, July 2011 to June 2017.
  • Method Analyst II, City of Edmonton's Office of Traffic Safety, Edmonton, Alberta, August 2010 to June 2011.
  • Research & Teaching Assistant, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, September 2004 to June 2010.
  • Research Assistant, Bureau of Intelligent Transportation Systems & Freight Security, Vancouver, BC, July 2007 to December 2008.
  • Research Assistant, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, UAE, December 2003 to July 2004.


Awards

  • 2022 Young Professional Award, ITS Canada
  • 2021 Essay Competition Award, ITS Canada
  • 2021 Inaugural Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (EDI) Award, ITS Canada
  • 2021 Paper Award Editor's Choice, Journal of Transportation Engineering Part A: Systems
  • 2021 Committee Excellence Award, TAC
  • 2021 Daniel B. Fambro Student Paper Award, ITE Annual Meeting & Exhibition
  • 2021 Impacts on Practice Award from Maintenance and Preservation Section, TRB 
  • 2020 Project of the Year, Northern Alberta's ITE Section
  • 2020 Essay Competition Award, ITS Canada
  • 2020 Canadian ITS R&D/Innovation Award, ITS Canada 
  • 2020 Faculty of Engineering Mid-Career Research Award, UofA
  • 2017 Early Career Researcher Award, Department of Civil Engineering, UofA
  • 2017 Best Paper Award (2nd & 3rd Place), TAC Conference and Exhibit 
  • 2017 James D. Cooper Best Paper Award, 34th International Bridge Conference 
  • 2017 Young Researcher Paper Award, ANB20 Committee, TRB
  • 2016 Best Paper Award (1st & 2nd Place), Capital Region Intersection Safety Partnership
  • 2016 Best Paper Award, ABJ80 Committee, TRB 


Editorial Boards 

  • Guest Editor for the Special Issue on Urbanization and Road Safety Management for Sustainability published by MDPI
  • Handling Editor for the Transportation Research Record published by SAGE
  • Editorial Advisory Board of the Analytic Methods in Accident Research published by Elsevier


Committee Membership

  • Member of the Road Safety Committee at TAC
  • Member of the Canadian Road Safety Engineering Handbook Subcommittee at TAC
  • Member and Paper Review Coordinator for the Pedestrian Committee (ANF10) at the TRB

Research

Dr. El-Basyouny's research focuses on developing models, techniques, and algorithms to enhance the safety of both human drivers and self-driving vehicles. His work in collision modelling and evaluation involves the application of econometric models to enhance predictive accuracy and address critical data and methodological challenges. In speed management, Dr. El-Basyouny delves into understanding the risks and factors that influence speeding in urban environments. He designs programs aimed at improving compliance with speed limits and enhancing safety. This includes a substantial body of work on the effects of speed limit reductions, the implementation of automated enforcement, and the integration of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies. Recent research efforts have been channelled into creating a framework that merges advanced sensor technologies with data processing tools. This framework is designed to automatically identify and extract road and roadside features. Employing an interdisciplinary approach, Dr. El-Basyouny integrates statistical pattern recognition techniques and machine learning tools for the semantic segmentation of 3D point cloud data. His investigations in this domain explore the safety and mobility advantages of digitizing roadway infrastructure.

Publications

For a list of publications, please visit Dr. El-Basyouny’s Google Scholar or Scopus page. 


Teaching

  • CIV E 616: Road Traffic Safety – This is a graduate-level course on road safety management, a field that focuses on using statistical analysis techniques for tasks like network screening, diagnosis, and evaluation of road safety improvements
  • CIV E 617: Highway Geometric Design – This is a graduate-level course on highway geometric design, which focuses on the application of criteria and standards to the design of various alignment elements of a rural or urban highway facility
  • CIV E 315: Transportation Engineering – This is an undergraduate-level course intended to introduce students to the fields of traffic engineering, planning, and highway design

Announcements

Dr. Karim El-Basyouny's research group is excited to announce available positions for talented Ph.D. and Postdoctoral candidates to join the team at UAlberta. Several fully-funded Ph.D. positions and exciting postdoctoral opportunities are being offered for outstanding candidates who are interested in conducting research in Transportation Engineering, specifically focusing on remote sensing applications in road digitization. Emphasis is placed on candidates with a robust academic background in Machine Learning, Geomatics, and Programming/Coding.