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Highlighted Lab Research: Urban Air Mobility

1. Planning On-Demand Urban Air Mobility: Network Design, Operation Scheduling, and Uncertainty Considerations, Zhiqaing Wu and Yu Zhang
The main objective of this research is to build up mathematical models to design the supporting infrastructure system and operation strategies for large-scale on-demand UAM service. The five proposed questions will be answered from three parts. The first part will focus on the UAM network design, which includes optimal vertiport location identification and UAM user allocation to the vertiport. The second one will focus on eVTOL operation and user serving scheduling based on vertiport location and UAM service demand input from the first part. The third part will look into how potential uncertainties can influence the modeling structure and corresponding network design and operation scheduling results.

2.Airspace Design and Trajectory Planning for High-Density Urban Air Mobility in Low-Altitude Urban Airspace, Hualong Tang and Yu Zhang
This study proposes a new framework of airspace management for UAM. 3D GIS map generated with Lidar data provides flyable airspace in low-altitude urban airspace. Shortest routes are developed at each flight level and trajectory deconfliction schemes are used to determine conflict-free and energy-efficient trajectories for high density UAM flights. 
3. Design SIMMOD Simulation Model with Concurrent Manned and Unmanned Operations: TPA Case for Future Urban Air Mobility, Rocio Frej  Vitalle and Yu Zhang
The objectives of this study are (1) identify potential vertiport locations on or near commercial airports; (2) design procedures for urban air mobility flights landing and takeoff from those vertiports; (3) identify the capacity of commercial airports for embracing future urban air mobility. ​

Lab News:
Prof. Zhang is serving as the Managing Guest Editor for Special Issue: "Embracing Urban Air Mobility" to be published in Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies.  
https://www.journals.elsevier.com/transportation-research-part-c-emerging-technologies

Mar. 2020: Prof. Yu Zhang appears in TRB2020 Highlight "A century of Progress Foundation for the Future". She attended Workshop on Urban Air Mobility during TRB Annual Meeting 2020 and discussed planning and implementation issues of this emerging transportation mode.
 
Jan. 2020: Prof. Yu Zhang is elected as the President of WTS Tampa Bay Chapter and her team starts Jan. 2020. 

Jan. 2020: Hualong Tang is one of the recipients of Florida Airport Council Scholarship 2020. https://www.floridaairports.org/education-foundation/scholarship-program/

Dec. 2019: Yuan Wang graduated from USF with the PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Her dissertation is "Dynamic Prediction of Runway Configuration and Airport Acceptance Rate"

Oct. 2019: Prof. Yu Zhang is serving on NCHRP Panel for NCHRP 20-113F: Topical White Papers for the TRB Forum on Automated Vhicles and Shared Mobility 
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Mar. 2019: Natalia Barbour defended her dissertation entitled "Statistical Analysis of the Role of Socio-Demographic and Health Factors in Shared Mobility Related Behaviors and Usage Likelihoods." on March 8, 2019. 

Feb. 2019: Prof. Yu Zhang was interviewed to give her comments on California scaling down high speed rail construction project. 
​https://slate.com/business/2019/02/high-speed-rail-in-california-and-the-green-new-deal-it-could-work-in-america-but-were-screwing-it-up.html 
 
Nov. 2018: Dr. Tingting Zhao and Yuan Wang attended INFORMS 2018 in Phoenix.  

Sept. 2018: Florida Airports Council (FAC) 2019 Scholarship Application is open. 
www.floridaairports.org/education-foundation/scholarship-program/  

Affiliated with:

Director:
​Dr. Yu Zhang
Associate Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of South Florida
4202 E. Fowler Ave. ENB118
Tampa, FL 33620
USA
813-974-5846
yuzhang at usf.edu

Research Sponsors