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12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m.
Zupnik Forum, 1101 Clark Hall, University of Maryland College Park
For More Information:
Robert Herschbach
301 405 2057
rherschb@umd.edu
https://cee.umd.edu/kirlin-lecture-series
Blending AI/ML with traditional data science: The case of highway safety research
Fred Mannering
University of South Florida
Abstract
In recent years, data science has shifted from methodologies based on traditional and advanced statistical and econometric approaches to those based on emerging data-driven artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) approaches. Unfortunately, while previous statistical and econometric approaches were often linked to underlying behavioral science and considered causality and associated concepts such as endogeneity, unobserved heterogeneity, sample selectivity, and temporal dynamics, most AI/ML applications have largely ignored these points and their potential to improve analysis and prediction. Using highway safety research as an example, this talk discusses how the blending of findings and scientific constructs from traditional data science with AI/ML can substantially improve data analysis and predictive performance. An assessment of crash risk with high-resolution traffic conflict data is provided as an example of this blending. It is argued that a “Goldilocks” blend of these two approaches exists, and that the most promising direction going forward will be research that seeks to link key concepts explored by traditional data science with modern AI/ML approaches.
Bio
Fred Mannering is an American engineering professor known for fundamentally advancing the use of statistical and econometric methods in transportation engineering and highway safety analysis. His work has provided the analytical backbone for understanding complexities relating to accident causation, travel demand, and the behavioral and economic forces shaping transportation systems. Mannering received his undergraduate engineering degree from the University of Saskatchewan, MS degree from Purdue University, and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the supervision of economist Clifford Winston and Nobel laureate Daniel McFadden, exposing him to cutting-edge econometric thinking that would profoundly shape his approach to research.
Mannering began his academic career as an assistant professor at the Pennsylvania State University, and in the mid 1980’s, he moved to the University of Washington, where he served as a professor and eventually as chair of the Civil and Environmental Engineering department. In the early 2000’s Mannering joined Purdue University, first as the Head of the School of Civil Engineering and later as the Charles Pankow Professor. While at Purdue, he was instrumental in advancing the statistical analysis of crash data, mentoring a generation of graduate students, and authoring two influential textbooks that have been used to educate over 150,000 engineering students. Also, while at Purdue, he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the prestigious journal Transportation Research Part B: Methodological from 2004 to 2012, guiding the publication of foundational methodological work in the transportation field. He later became the founding Editor-in-Chief of Analytic Methods in Accident Research in 2013, creating a dedicated venue for high-level methodological discourse in safety analytics. Finally, in 2015, Mannering joined the University of South Florida, where he is currently a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and serves as the Executive Director of the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR).
Mannering is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), cited “for contributions to transportation engineering data science and innovations in highway safety analytics”. He has authored over 180 journal articles, and his published work has been cited over 45,000 times in Google Scholar. He is a recipient of numerous awards including the American Society of Civil Engineers' Wilbur S. Smith Award, James Laurie Prize, and Arthur M. Wellington Prize. For multiple consecutive years, he has been named a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher, placing him among the top 1% of cited scholars worldwide. He was also recognized by the Eno Center for Transportation as one of the top ten transportation thought leaders in academia, and he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of University Transportation Centers.
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