Dear FCL Global Community,

I am honoured to be selected as one of the four Young Leaders from Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) Global for the World Cities Summit Young Leaders Symposium 2024. Currently, I am a postdoctoral researcher and the module coordinator of the Adaptive Mobility Infrastructure and Land-use (AMIL) module at FCL. With a PhD in Transport Engineering from Imperial College London, my research focuses on developing transport-specific AI tools, such as reinforcement learning methods, for the dynamic control of intelligent transport systems and the adaptive planning of transport infrastructure under stochastic conditions for the long term.

The Young Leaders Symposium is a platform that recognizes the importance of diverse perspectives in addressing the complex challenges of our time. In the transportation sector, advancements in autonomous technology, electrification, shared mobility, and micro-mobility are reshaping the transport landscape, reminiscent of the transformative transportation revolution of the 1950s. These innovations present complex challenges that require interdisciplinary expertise beyond traditional transportation engineering. For instance, one challenge involves dynamically coordinating mixed vehicle fleets with intelligent roadside units through edge computing. Additionally, there is a need to adaptively plan charging infrastructure over the coming decades, considering changes in travel demands and preferences, as well as uncertainties in the readiness of various technologies.

AI techniques have been increasingly integrated into this field, demonstrating superior learning, prediction, and planning capabilities. For example, I applied reinforcement learning methods to serve multiple road users in my research for dynamically demand-responsive road infrastructure control. As one of the research topics in the module, these methods have been adapted to plan the development of new charging facilities in Singapore, accounting for future fluctuations in electric vehicle charging and discharging demands. As AI continues to evolve, its applications in transportation, or AI mobility, will expand. Future questions will focus on these techniques' robustness, explainability, and security.

The symposium will inspire new thoughts and discussions on these critical topics. I am excited and looking forward to the engaging conversations!

Have a good weekend!

Qiming