Essam Radwan, Ph.D., P.E., Dist.M.ASCE, was named a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). This is the highest honor to which a civil engineer can aspire. He is recognized for his research contributions to research to improve traffic operations using human-centered simulation and for his outstanding leadership to enhance civil engineering education. Radwan is a professor emeritus in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Radwan will be inducted on Friday, October 11, 2019 at the Celebration of Leaders Luncheon during ASCE’s 2019 Convention, in Miami, Fla.
“ASCE is proud to present the 2019 class of Distinguished Members. Distinguished Members are the most eminent members in ASCE. The nine professionals recognized in 2019 are well-deserving of this recognition for their contribution to the civil engineering profession,” said Robin A. Kemper, P.E. “Each member has attained a level of excellence that sets the standard for their peers, paving the way for engineers of the future. These civil engineers will join the ranks of 220 other current ASCE members who have received this honor.”
Radwan’s research is recognized worldwide for its incorporation of human factors into the assessment of highway safety. He brings together scientists from electrical and computer engineering, civil and environmental engineering, industrial engineering and psychology to optimize traffic flow at intersections and arterials with leading-edge methods. One of his prominent projects used a driving simulator to determine the risk of drivers involved in rear-end collisions while under the influence of cellphones. Throughout his career, Radwan has served as Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator on over 80 projects sponsored by federal and state agencies such as the U.S. and Florida State Departments of Transportation.
Radwan has contributed to educating the next generation of civil engineers in addition to his research. He served as chair of the Department of Civil, Environmental & Construction Engineering for most of his tenure at UCF, where he responsibly reformed the undergraduate curriculum and expanded the graduate program with vanguard research. Radwan mentored dozens of master’s and doctoral students, and ensured that they, along with faculty, presented on their own research progress and findings at premiere forums and at academic and professional conferences both locally and internationally. As his team’s prominence grew, he attracted significant and increasing research funding from various levels of government and industry, and he became founding director of the Center for Advanced Transportation System Simulation (CATSS), a multidisciplinary simulation lab of aggregated investigators working with UCF’s Institute for Simulation and Training.
Radwan led UCF’s effort to partner with the City of Orlando on the central Florida team in the Metrolab Network, which was inspired by The White House. In this network, universities use academic research and resources to help cities improve their approaches to sustainability, economic development, community-building and public safety. With the benefit of Radwan’s vision and leadership, many emerging topics, such as automated and connected mobility and energy diversification, are being addressed successfully in practice, classrooms and pilot programs.
Furthermore, Radwan has authored 260 technical papers and reports, and his work is extensively cited by his peers. He has delivered numerous academic talks at international conferences and professional meetings to which he has been invited and has been a keynote speaker at events internationally. His awards include the Frank Masters Award, serving as an Institute of Transportation Engineers Fellow and has been active with the Transportation Research Board and the Florida Engineering Society. He earned his degrees at Cairo University and Purdue.
