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Dr. Said Easa

Said Easa
Professor
BSc, MEng, PhD, PEng
MON-409
416-979-5000 ext. 7868

Areas of Academic Interest

Geometric design and road safety

Intelligent transportation systems

Traffic operations and management

Education

Year University Degree
1982 University of California PhD
1976 McMaster University MEng
1972 Cairo University BSc

Selected Courses

Course Code Course Title
CVL71A/B Capstone Design Project
CVL72A/B Capstone Design Project
CV8406 Advanced Highway Geometric Design

Spotlight

With his father employed at Cairo’s railway yard, Said Easa grew up around trains. He even drove a locomotive at the age of 10. Not surprisingly, his fourth-year undergraduate project was on railyard design. “Despite all that,” laughs Easa, “my parents wanted me to go into medicine. But you’ve got to do what you’re passionate about. That leads to excellence.”

Now focused more on roads than rails, Easa is currently working on an in-vehicle collision warning system that takes into account the specific design of the vehicle and the driver’s unique characteristics. “The system collects data from all the activities of the car and uses sensors to calculate risks, such as passing another car on a two-lane highway.”

In all of his projects, Easa is attracted to complexity. “Structures interest me less than the dynamic, unpredictable human side of transportation. People change over time, so the human factor is never stable. How we travel, use machines, use roads – this is always shifting. Collaborations with psychology are especially useful in advancing the civil engineering area.”

Does he still think about trains? “Yes! I’m a transportation engineer, and part of me is still that boy in the yard.”

Said Easa

“There is a lot of uncertainty in dealing with the human factor in engineering. That’s why I like it.”

  • IAAM Medal for 2018 from the International Association for Advanced Materials for "notable and outstanding research in the Advanced Materials Science & Technology." The award was presented at the European Advanced Materials Congress, Stockholm, Sweden, August, 2018.
  • Best Paper Award, Journal of Transportation Engineering: Part A – Systems, American Society of Civil Engineers, for paper entitled, "Innovative roadside design curve of lateral clearance: roadway simple horizontal curves." By You, Q. and Easa, S, 2018.
  • Award of Academic Merit from Transportation Association of Canada “in recognition of his long-term contribution to the advancement of the academic field and to the development of tomorrow's transportation leaders.,” 2010.
  • Frank M. Masters Transportation Engineering Award, from American Society of Civil Engineers in recognition of "outstanding contributions to ASCE and the transportation profession throughout his career at national and local levels both professionally and as an academician," 2001.
  • Easa, S. (2018). Superpave design aggregate structure considering uncertainty: I. Selection of trial blends. J. Test. and Eval., ASTM.
  • Ma, Y., Zheng, Y., Cheng, J., and Easa, S. (2018). Real-time Visualization Method for Estimating 3D Highway Sight Distance Using LiDAR Data. J. Transp. Eng. - Part A: Systems.
  • Han, Y-C. and Easa, S. (2018). Exact solution of optimum hydraulic power-law section with general exponent parameter. J. Irrig. and Drain. Eng.
  • Xu, Z., Wei, T., Easa, S., Zhao, X., and Qu, X. (2018). Modeling relationship between truck fuel consumption and driving behavior using data from Internet of Vehicles. Inter. J. Computer-Aided Civ. and Infra. Eng.
  • Hassein, U., Diachuk, M., and Easa, S. (2018). In-vehicle passing collision warning system for two-lane highways considering driver characteristics. Transportation Research Record, TRB.
  • Associate Editor: Journal of Transportation Engineering, ASCE
  • Associate Editor: Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering
  • Associate Editor: Journal of Surveying Engineering, ASCE  
  • President: Online Network Enabled ITS Research Society