Category: News

Jack Hykaway attended the inaugural University of Manitoba Postdoctoral and Graduate Research Showcase (October 23-24), where he had the opportunity to present his research poster about the issues and options for the transportation of small modular reactor pressure vessels by road and rail. 

This work identifies potential shortest-path overland transportation routes and catchment areas from key port facilities to destinations throughout the prairie region. The identification of shortest paths provides an initial route-screening tool for oversize/overweight shipments and highlights important entry/exit points for reactor shipments at the provincial level.

This event was a valuable opportunity to present research in an accessible format to various academic and industry judges from several professional backgrounds.

In October, the 4^th Heavy Vehicle and Equipment Technology Conference was hosted by Vehicle Technology Centre (VTC) and RRC Polytech in Winnipeg. The conference highlighted the innovative Canada-based projects that are working towards advancing battery technologies, charging infrastructure and applying battery-electric systems in locomotives, fire trucks, and even agriculture. Phani Patnala, Jyoti Mandhani, and Naveen Balla represented UMTIG at the conference. They got valuable insights from industry and academia on battery technology, wireless charging technology, and advances in the development of zero-emission trucks and specialised vehicles.

In addition, they got a chance to check out a Class-8 electric truck from Peterbilt that was on display at the venue.

Nasim Deljouyi attended the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) Conference and Exhibition 2025 in Quebec City, Canada (October 5–8), where she presented part of her research on AI-based methods for freight Origin–Destination (OD) estimation. Her presentation, titled “A Simulation-Based Methodology for Road Freight Network Extraction: Case Study in the Canadian Prairie Region,” showcased a multi-model traffic assignment approach for simplifying complex road networks while preserving key freight flow characteristics. Nasim received valuable feedback and questions on the real-world applicability of her proposed method and the data challenges involved in modeling freight movements. Beyond her presentation, Nasim enjoyed connecting with professionals and researchers across diverse areas of transportation. The conference provided an excellent opportunity for knowledge exchange and networking within Canada’s transportation community, and an inspiring setting in the historic city of Quebec.

Tara Saeidi attended the Conference on Advanced Systems in Public Transport and TransitData 2025 in Kyoto, Japan (July 1–5), where she had the incredible opportunity to present her research on data-driven approaches to optimizing Demand-Responsive Transit (DRT) systems for equitable and efficient service planning.
Tara made an oral presentation on “Estimating Elderly Transit Demand Using Boarding Count Data with Policy Implications for DRT Zoning”.  This work focuses on elderly travel patterns in Winnipeg’s bus-only network. By generating monthly OD matrices using boarding data and symmetry-based alighting estimation, she analyzed seasonal trends to guide adaptive DRT zone design.  

Tara also presented her poster “RL-Guided Genetic Algorithm for Zoning a DRT Service”. This study introduced a novel zoning framework combining Reinforcement Learning and Genetic Algorithms to adapt to travel demand changes. The model learns to generate optimal service zones aligned with operational cost goals—showing promising results in grid-based simulations.
Beyond the academic exchange, Tara had a truly memorable time exploring Kyoto-Osaka and joining the conference’s cultural tour to Arashiyama—including a ride on a historic steam train, which was a truly unique transportation experience!

In June, Dr. Mehran travelled to Japan where he attended the 12th Triennial Symposium on Transportation Analysis conference (TRISTAN XII) from June 22-27, 2025, at the Bankoku Shinryokan in Okinawa, Japan.  Following the conference Dr. Mehran travelled to Nagoyo where he had research meetings with Prof. Asano at Nagoya University. From June 26-27, Dr. Mehran was hosted in Tokyo to have research meetings with Prof. Oguchi and his research team at the University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science. While there, he gave a seminar titled “Highway Transportation Safety and Resilience in the Canadian Prairies and Northern Regions: Driver Behaviour Perspectives”

Dr. Babak Mehran and Tara Saeidi were speakers on the CUTRIC Academic Committee for Transit Innovation held on June 11, 2025, where they hosted a virtual session focused on AI and Machine Learning applications in public transit.   This is a critical and rapidly evolving area that promises to revolutionize how we operate, maintain and experience transit systems – from improving operational efficiency, enhancing the passenger experience and increasing safety and security.  Dr. Mehran and Tara were joined by Igor Zaslavsky (York Region) and Dr. Saeid Saidi (University of Calgary).

In May 2025, Université Laval hosted the 18th Heavy Vehicle Transport & Technology (HVTT18) symposium in Québec City. The international symposium tackled current challenges in the development of S²MART road freight transport systems, ensuring they are Sustainable, Safe, Modern, Adaptable, Resilient, and Trustworthy. UMTIG was proud to participate in this symposium, which traces its origin back to the inaugural International Symposium on Heavy Vehicle Weights and Dimensions in 1986, hosted by the Roads and Transportation Association of Canada at that time. UMTIG’s founder, the late Professor Emeritus Alan Clayton, participated in that first symposium.

Jonathan Regehr served as Program Chair, working closely with General Chair, Dr. Julien Lépine and his team at Université Laval, to deliver a dynamic and collaborative four-day event. In addition, Babak Mehran, Phani Patnala, Jyoti Mandhani, Nasim Deljouyi, Homa Motavallian, Janak Kharel, and Naveen Balla, represented UMTIG at the symposium. The program featured four presentations by UMTIG. Babak discussed UMTIG’s research on modelling truck traffic operations in adverse road-weather conditions. Jyoti and Phani presented papers related to electric truck adoption and regulation. Nasim’s presentation focused on challenges of synthesizing freight origin-destination data.

In addition to a robust technical program, the symposium included hands-on learning opportunities (truck driving simulations and a tour of a trailer manufacturing facility) and exciting social events, including a one-of-a-kind gala in the heart of Old Québec City.

The 2025 Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) Annual Conference was held at the Fairmont Hotel in Winnipeg on May 28-30, 2025.  The conference was a great opportunity for Matt Adaman, Sina Abolhoseini, Musharraf Khan and Jack Hykaway to meet academics, researchers, and practitioners from around the world in various fields of civil engineering. Attendees learned about recent achievements and innovative solutions that help address civil engineering challenges of the present and the future.

Ph.D. Candidates Homa Motavallian Naeini and Janak Kharel had an amazing experience at the CARSP/ICTCT 2025 Conference which took place May 20-23, 2025 in Québec City.
Homa had the chance to present her research on risky driver behavior at high-speed signalized intersections under different road-weather conditions—a topic that has been the focus of her recent work as well was part of the organizing committee.   

Youssef Masoud attended CUTRIC’s virtual Smart Rail Innovation Conference on March 19, representing UMTIG. This event was Canada’s largest rail innovation summit, convening North America’s leading rail sector decision-makers and thought leaders to discuss the future of rail innovation in Canada, including today’s greatest challenges and opportunities, and how best to overcome them as a sector.