Postdoctoral Scholar in Transportation Engineering Focus Transportation Safety & Artificial

Postdoctoral Scholar in Transportation Engineering with a Focus on Active Transportation Safety & Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The School of Engineering and Technology (SET) at the University of Washington Tacoma (UWT) invites applications for a postdoctoral scholar in transportation engineering with a focus on active transportation safety and artificial intelligence (AI). This interdisciplinary role emphasizes developing and deploying AI tools—especially vision-based and multi-sensor analytics—to improve safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, and micromobility users. The scholar will play a central role in USDOT-funded, multi-year R-SEAT (Rural Safe Efficient Advanced Transportation) Center research, collaborating with consortium universities and local DOT partners on pilot projects, data fusion efforts, and translational research that leads to publications and competitive external proposals (e.g., National Science Foundation (NSF)).

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and conduct original research at the intersection of active transportation safety and AI (e.g., near-miss detection, predictive crash risk, multimodal exposure estimation).
• Design, implement, and validate AI pipelines (computer vision, tracking, spatio-temporal modeling, edge learning) using field data (traffic cameras, micromobility telemetry, connected vehicle/V2X, crash records, GIS).
• Manage and coordinate pilot deployments with city/state DOTs, micromobility providers, or vendor partners; oversee data sharing agreements, ethics/privacy compliance, and on-site testing.
• Produce high-quality peer-reviewed publications, technical reports, and policy briefs; present findings at conferences and to stakeholders.
• Contribute to grant development and lead components of competitive proposals (NSF, USDOT, state/foundation).
• Supervise and mentor undergraduate and graduate students on research activities; assist in preparing project deliverables and consortium coordination.
• Teach elective engineering courses.

This is a full-time position. Review of candidates will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

Postdoctoral scholar appointments are initially for 12 months, with opportunities to renew depending on funding availability and the scholar's performance. Postdoctoral scholars are represented by UAW 4121 and are subject to the collective bargaining agreement unless agreed exclusion criteria apply. For more information, please visit the University of Washington Labor Relations website.

The base salary range for this position will be $5,750/month, commensurate with experience and qualifications or as mandated by a U.S. Department of Labor prevailing wage determination. Other compensation associated with this position may include travel to national or international conferences, computing equipment, and fees associated with manuscript publications, if applicable. A summary of benefits associated with this title/rank can be found at (Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)..

Location:

University of Washington Tacoma. This position will have the option for a hybrid schedule.

International Applicants:
Visa sponsorship will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Relocation costs are not included.

Minimum Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering or a closely related field (systems engineering, civil engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, data science, etc.).
• Demonstrated research experience (≥1 year) in transportation engineering or related areas.
• Strong background in machine learning/AI and hands-on experience with large, heterogeneous datasets.
• Practical experience with computer vision and/or spatio-temporal modeling (object detection, multi-object tracking, time-series prediction, anomaly detection).
• Proficiency in programming (Python required; R/Julia or others a plus) and experience with data engineering tools (SQL, cloud platforms, Docker).
• Experience with GIS/spatial analysis and traffic simulation or microsimulation tools.
• Evidence of scholarly productivity (peer-reviewed manuscripts) and experience preparing research proposals.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills…