Shahriar Austin Beigi · Also known as Shahriar Beigi and Austin Beigi
Civil Engineer | Traffic Safety and Machine Learning Researcher
Civil engineer and University of Virginia Ph.D. candidate focused on traffic safety, rear-end crash mitigation, uncertainty-calibrated machine learning, mixed-connectivity control, and transportation planning.
Traffic Data Analysis and Mixed-Traffic Safety Research
University of Virginia · August 2023 — Present
Uncertainty-calibrated residual learning and buffered-risk-aware longitudinal control for mitigating rear-end collision risk in mixed-connectivity traffic.
Developed a residual-learning framework that corrects acceleration-prediction errors for an unconnected preceding vehicle and quantifies predictive uncertainty for longitudinal control
Screened and cleaned 100 NGSIM scenarios through data-quality checks, trajectory smoothing, and recalculation of acceleration before model development
Designed separate training, validation, calibration, and test datasets to prevent temporal leakage; measured RMSE, MAE, and R-squared and assessed uncertainty using interval coverage and width
Evaluated control strategies for three-vehicle mixed-connectivity platoons using stability and crash-risk measures
A lower-bound acceleration policy produced a statistically significant 59.6% reduction in RCRI unsafe time, from 2.77 to 1.12 seconds
Reduced TET below a 2-second time-to-collision threshold from 0.07 to 0 seconds and mean DRAC from 0.007 to 0.006 m/s²; these changes were not statistically significant
Proposed a buffered-risk-aware governor that monitors time to collision, DRAC, and stopping-distance margins and shifts between safety-oriented residual feedforward input and baseline control
Virtual Reality Safety Evaluation of Connected Cruise Control
University of Virginia · August 2023 — Present
Human-in-the-loop evaluation of connected-cruise-control behavior using BeamNG and virtual reality.
Conducted a 20-participant BeamNG/VR study, screened trial validity, and retained 17 participants for paired analysis
Built traffic data records for speed, acceleration, headway, throttle, and braking and evaluated time exposed time-to-collision, deceleration rate to avoid crash, and rear-end crash risk index
Documented data elements, safety-performance measures, methods, and findings in three technical reports for research sponsors
Impact of Critical Situations on Autonomous Vehicles and Improvement Strategies
University of Virginia · August 2023 — Present
Review of sensing and roadway-infrastructure limitations affecting automated vehicles.
Reviewed 50+ studies on camera, LiDAR, radar, and GNSS limitations under fog, glare, contamination, faded lane markings, and construction zones
Assessed roadway-infrastructure needs and published improvement strategies for lane markings, signs, maintenance, and work zones
Connected-Vehicle Field-Test and Adaptive Cruise Control Planning
University of Virginia · August 2023 — Present
Field-test planning and risk-adaptive cruise-control concepts for connected vehicles.
Prepared a Comma.ai openpilot field-test plan for synchronized vehicle, GPS, and driver-monitoring data collection, staged validation, and driver-override criteria
Proposed a risk-adaptive strategy using time-to-collision, required deceleration, and stopping-distance margins and defined comparative safety and control tests
Professional experience
Civil Engineer, GS-11 · Federal Highway Administration, Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division
May 2024 — September 2025
Technical Services assignment supporting traffic operations and highway safety across a multiple-project federal portfolio in Virginia.
Promoted from Pathways Intern to full-time direct hire
Conducted roadway safety audits and guardrail warrant evaluations and prepared plans, specifications, and estimates for federal projects
Analyzed National Park Service crash data for multiple park-road sites in ArcGIS Pro to support guardrail warrants and roadside safety-barrier decisions
Applied MUTCD standards for signs, pavement markings, and signals across five federal projects to improve safety for all road-user groups
Civil Engineer II · HNTB
April 2021 — June 2023
Bridge and tunnel inspection and inspection planning in Massachusetts.
Inspected 20+ structures for MassDOT, MBTA, and SFMTA, including the I-93 and Ted Williams tunnels and the Zakim Bridge
Authored inspection plans for 20+ structures and presented findings and specifications to officials across several states
Civil Engineer I · AECOM
May 2018 — March 2021
Structural inspection, load rating, and design in Massachusetts.
Performed inspections and load ratings for 20+ MassDOT and RIDOT structures, including the I-93 tunnels, against federal and state live-load standards
Designed and inspected structures for four owners, including MassDOT, Massport, and Logan Airport
Civil Engineer · New Hampshire Department of Transportation
June 2017 — May 2018
Structural plan review and construction monitoring in New Hampshire.
Reviewed structural design plans for state-code compliance and tracked ground-improvement placement on the Spaulding Turnpike widening, including a new Route 4 prestressed-concrete beam bridge
Education
Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (in progress)
University of Virginia
August 2023 — Present
Autonomous and connected-vehicle decision-making, collision-risk evaluation, ADAS, simulation, and model validation.
M.E. in Civil Engineering
University of New Hampshire
August 2016 — December 2017
B.S. in Civil Engineering
University of New Hampshire
January 2012 — May 2016
Publications
Enhancing Cooperative Longitudinal Control in a Three-Vehicle Mixed-Connectivity Platoon Using an Uncertainty-Calibrated Deep Residual Learning Method
Transportation Research Record · Accepted · July 2026
A Virtual Reality-Based Evaluation on Safety and Driving Performance of hC3 in Electric Vehicles
IEEE International Conference on Vehicular Electronics and Safety · Accepted · August 2026