Prof. Ahmed Osman Idris, P.Eng., January 2021 - April 2024
Education:
Dr. Idris holds a Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering and Planning from the University of Toronto, Canada, and a Diploma in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from the American University in Cairo. He also has a Professional Certification in Teaching in Higher Education from the Woodsworth College, University of Toronto.
Biography:
Dr. Idris is a Professor of Transportation Engineering and Planning in the Construction and Building Engineering Department, AASTMT (http://www.aast.edu/cv.php?disp_unit=&ser=31050) an Affiliate Professor in the School of Engineering, University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada and a Professional Engineer licensed with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia, Canada.
Prior to joining the AASTMT in 2018, he spent five years (2013 - 2018) as a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in UBC's School of Engineering, preceded by two years (2011 - 2013) as a Research Associate/Project Manager in the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, Canada.
Practical Experience:
On the practical side (marine-works) and prior to his appointment as Dean, he served as MRCC's Assistant Dean for Project Management where he oversaw/got involved in several engineering projects and studies including: construction works of Alexandria Port's multi-purpose terminal (quay no. 85/3) construction works of El-Sokhna Port's liquid bulk jetty construction works of El-Sokhna Port's liquid bulk tank farm maintaining the draft of El-Dekheila Port's quay no. 98 (feasibility study) reinforcing and increasing the length of West Port-Said Port's container quay (feasibility study) and developing Egyptian container companies in light of the recent challenges in the maritime transport market (strategic study) to name a few.
Academic and Research Experience:
Dr. Idris is a behaviour modeller with a main research interest in studying the intertwined relationship between the transportation (with emphasis on public transit) and land use systems and their effect on travel behaviour and expected impacts (i.e. social, economic, and environmental).
He employs quantitative and qualitative research methods including: survey design and data collection, stated choice experiments, statistical analysis and discrete choice modelling, operations research, computer simulation, and Geographic Information Systems for Transportation (GIS-T).
Dr. Idris is currently exercising his transportation planning and demand analysis expertise to develop a sequential demand forecasting model for maritime transport planning. He is also interested in seaport integration, port/container terminal choice modelling, intelligent maritime transport systems, and GIS solutions for port management (Please let us know if you are interested in joining our research group).
The work of Dr. Idris has resulted in about 60 peer-reviewed publications, 2 book chapter, and 11 technical reports (https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=__nQzRRfJFsC).
In addition, he is recipient of several research grants and research/teaching awards including the Erasmus+ ( €875k, 2020 - 2023), the NSERC Discovery Grant ($120k, 2016 - 2020), the 2019 and 2022 School of Engineering Scientific Publications Excellence Award, and the 2017 "Thank a Prof." Recognition based on nominations from students for supporting them in their educational endeavours and being a positive influence on students teaching and learning at UBC.
Hobbies:
Dr. Idris is an avid fisherman who believes that a bad day of fishing is better than a good day of work!
