Yichang (James) Tsai, Ph.D.,P.E.

Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Contact
Office: PARB A214
Email: james.tsai@ce.gatech.edu
Files
Research Thrusts
Geosystems
Transportation
Information/Sensor Technology
Education
Ph.D., C.E., Georgia Institute of Technology, 1996
M.S., C.E., National Chung-Hsing University, 1989
B.S., C.E./Soil and Water Conservation, National Chung-Hsing University, 1987
Research Interests
  • Pavement/infrastructure/asset system engineering and management
  • Pavement technology
  • Information and sensor technology applications
  • Image processing and recognition applications
  • Geospatial analysis and GPS/GIS applications
  • Emergency respones and roadway safety
  • Logistics and optimization

Before joining the faculty at Georgia Tech, Dr. Tsai worked as a senior research scientist in the GIS center at Georgia Tech. Since 1997, he has led a research team and worked with GDOT pavement engineers, successfully implementing a large-scale Oracle GIS-based pavement preservation and management system for GDOT to effectively preserve and manage its 18,000-centerline miles of highway. The research includes pavement condition assessment, pavement rehabilitation technology, deterioration/forecasting models, long-term system performance simulation, and resource optimization/management. He also developed and successfully implemented an IT-based asset management system using GPS/GIS technology for local transportation agencies, including Fulton County’s (Atlanta, Georgia). He is extending his research results to manage other assets, including, traffic signs, bridges, and railroads. He is also a PI for a project sponsored by the State Road and Tollway Authority (STRA) for License Plate Recognition and a research project sponsored by the National Academy of Science (NAS) NCHRP IDEA program that is developing video image recognition algorithms to enhance roadway infrastructure data collection. He also worked with United Parcel Service (UPS) to evaluate its performance on logistics routing and scheduling. Recently, he has been developing advanced sensor technologies, and video image recognition algorithms, and GPS/GIS technologies for accelerated pavement testing, roadway data collection, roadway safety assessment, and maritime security and asset utilization. He is also developing innovative license plate recognition technologies and vehicle motion detection technologies for intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and real-time traffic flow monitoring to improve road safety and mobility.