Bryan Higgs is a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at UDC, with a strong focus on climate change impact analysis, transportation engineering, and critical infrastructure resilience. He directs the UDC Center of Climate Change Analytics and leads research in areas like geospatial data mining, traffic flow theory, and artificial intelligence applications. He has received multiple awards for his scholarly works and is actively involved in climate change education and engineering infrastructure research.
Experience
Education
Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering: Transportation Engineering, Virginia TechMaster of Science in Civil Engineering: Transportation Engineering, Virginia TechBachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, Virginia Tech
Roles
Director, UDC Center of Climate Change Analytics, 2022-Present Undergraduate Program Director, UDC Department of Civil Engineering, 2018-Present Assistant Professor, UDC Department of Civil Engineering, 2017-Present
Courses Taught
Game Theory Applications in Engineering Travel Demand Modeling Traffic Engineering Transportation Engineering Engineering Mechanics I Engineering Mechanics II Applied Numerical Analysis
Expertise
Director, UDC Center of Climate Change Analytics Coordinate research activities of a team of faculty from Civil Engineering and Computer Science
Research Focus / Works in Progress
Climate change impact analysis; resilience of critical infrastructure systems; applications of multi-level multi-objective game theory; geospatial data mining and analysis; artificial intelligence applications in data analysis; analysis of psychophysiological driver behavior; traffic flow theory and car-following models; transportation network design and optimization; traffic simulation
Leadership
Director, UDC Center of Climate Change Analytics, 2022-Present Undergraduate Program Director, UDC Department of Civil Engineering, 2018-Present Chair of Curriculum Committee, UDC Department of Civil Engineering, 2021-Present SEAS Union Representative, UDC Faculty Association, 2021-24 Department of Civil Engineering Representative, UDC Faculty Senate, 2018-21
Impact
Selected Presentations
Higgs, B., & Patil, U. (2024). Integrating climate change into engineering education.American Society for Engineering Education Mid-Atlantic Conference, Farmingdale, New York.
Higgs, B., & Ozkula, G. (2024). Fostering the development of engineering skills using online tools.American Society for Engineering Education Mid-Atlantic Conference, Farmingdale, New York.
Jeong, D., Higgs, B., & Ji, S. (2024). Designing an interactive web-based rainfall analysis system. IEEE VIS: Visualization & Visual Analytics Conference.
Higgs, B. (2025). Decarbonizing transportaion: A game-theoretic analysis of infrastructure needs. International Conference on Transportation & Development, Glendale, Arizona. [Accepted for presentation]
Higgs, B., & Patil, U. (2025). Slope stability analysis and risk assessment for transportation infrastructure. International Conference on Transportation & Development, Glendale, Arizona. [Accepted for presentation]
Higgs, B., & Ozkula, G. (2025). Community resilience: A game-theoretic analysis of critical infrastructure and quality of life. International Conference on Transportation & Development, Glendale, Arizona. [Accepted for presentation]
Patil, U., Higgs, B., Yeo, M., Chakraborty, S., Banarjee, A., & Congress, S. (2025) Tropical hillslope stability under extreme precipitation during a super typhonn event. The Fourth Pan-American Conference on Unsaturated Soils, Ontario, Canada. [Accepted for presentation]
Selected Grants
National Science Foundation. (2022). HBCU-RISE: Enhancement of research and educational infrastructure in climate change impact analysis for critical infrastructure systems protection using game theory.
Recognitions
UDC Faculty Excellence in Scholarly/Creative Works Award, 2023 Black Engineer of the Year Awards Modern-Day Technology Leader Award, 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Outstanding Faculty Award, UDC, 2018
