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Prof Flora Salim appointed Cisco Chair in Digital Transport at UNSW
Author Natalie Campbell
Date 18 February 2022
ADM+S Associate Investigator Prof Flora Salim has been appointed as the inaugural Cisco Chair in Digital Transport at the Centre for Critical Digital Infrastructure in the School of Computer Science at UNSW.
As Research Chair, Prof Salim will steer innovative research into the digitisation of transport, expand UNSW’s expertise in data science and transport system engineering and provide a platform for leading researchers to utilise world class resources and databases to accelerate ethical data-driven decision making in the transport sector.
“There are a couple of things that make me really excited about this role. Firstly, UNSW’s strong commitment to research excellence coupled with direct opportunity to translate the research for impact and transformation in the industry sector,” said Prof Salim.
“Secondly, there has never been a better time to do research in this important area of transport and mobility.
“Not only is there more data available to fuel the research in mobility data science, but also the further multi-prong impact from this research area into multiple other areas such as pandemic management, supply chain, digitisation in infrastructures and energy systems, the future of work, the future of retail, future energy systems, spatial intelligence and defence, and sustainability,” she added.
“The role will provide a platform for me to generate more impactful research in the field of data science and ubiquitous computing, particularly on human behaviour modelling and machine learning for time-series and spatio-temporal data, coupled with the opportunity to apply them across multiple emerging technologies, such as IoT, digital twins, and automation, viewed from the lens of transport and mobility,” said Prof Salim.
“Using this role to do more excellent and impactful research, I hope to see more practical knowledge and applications of fundamental research along with a streamlined translation pipeline, towards more human-centric, effective, efficient, sustainable, safer, and fairer systems in our cities.”
Professor Aaron Quigley, Head of School in Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW said, “Flora’s arrival is a linchpin in our establishment of the proposed Centre for Critical Digital Infrastructure. Building on our Operating Systems, Open Source and CyberSecurity strengths in UNSW and the John Lions Foundation we are aiming to create a nexus for education, research and best practice in open-source technology innovation. We look forward to welcoming Flora to help us redefine the human experience beyond the edge of possibility.”
The appointment is part of an ongoing partnership between UNSW and Cisco with a focus on industry-led research in digital transport and areas such as mobile networks, behaviour analysis, multi-vehicle planning, resource allocation, and transport modelling.
Cisco’s Director of Education & Strategic Industries, Reg Johnson said, “We’re excited about Professor Flora Salim’s appointment as the Cisco digital transport research chair, a role that will accelerate digital innovation in the transport industry, enhance the future of mobility; and make it safer, more efficient and sustainable.”
