Collaborative Research: IRES Track I: Future Mobility for Smart City

联合国环境规划署（UNEP）估计，到2050年，世界上约66%的人口将居住在城市地区，这将对环境和社会的可持续性构成重大挑战。为了应对这些挑战，许多国家和全球机构发起了倡议，如美国交通部的智慧城市挑战计划、世界银行的可持续城市倡议和联合国的可持续发展目标。实现智慧城市目标的核心要素是多方面和整体的方法，特别是平衡数字基础设施与物理基础设施。考虑到不断发展的传感器和信息技术，再加上城市适应气候变化的紧迫性，以及为公众提供足够的流动性，教育工作者有责任开发一种教学和学术方法，让我们的学生为未来做好准备。我们迫切需要让我们的学生接触到一个研究环境，在这个环境中，他们可以欣赏可持续和智能城市的综合和跨学科性质，以解决城市地区的各种问题，并培养一种多方面解决问题的心态。该项目旨在启动韩国首尔国立大学（SNU）的国际学生研究体验（IRES）项目，其总体研究主题是可持续和智慧城市的移动性。拟议的IRES项目将在三年的资助期内，每年为六名美国本科生/研究生提供为期八周的暑期研究经历。拟议的IRES计划的目标是：(i)通过让学生接触可持续和智能城市的研究领域，培养解决问题的创造性和多学科观点；（ii）通过为学生提供在韩国沉浸式的学术和文化体验，培养全球竞争力；（iii）最终激励学生从事STEM领域的职业。此外，这个拟议的IRES项目将帮助我们的学生不仅成为有准备的工程师，而且成为具有广泛和多样化世界观的社区领袖。这个IRES项目解决了一个基本的研究问题：从城市交通的角度来看，数字基础设施（如传感器和数据科学）如何以及在多大程度上改善人类生活？一个三级的方法将在探索和钻研数据分析，优化技术，并使用各种工具（如GIS， Unity3D）模型构建强调。这种创新和全面的研究方法将推进对数字基础设施和物理基础设施之间关系的认识，并最终提供必要的数字基础设施布局，以进一步支持物理基础设施——这是建设智慧城市急需的基础信息。此外，这将使我们的学生捕捉和理解整体和多学科方法的重要性。首尔国立大学的智慧城市工程项目为可持续发展和智慧城市提供了最先进的研究环境，拥有工程、规划、科学和政策方面的领先专家，以及世界一流的实验室和试验台设备和设施。在完成这个IRES项目后，我们希望学生能够实现：(i)在可持续和智能城市的未来交通的直接和相关领域（例如，大数据分析，代码开发，多式联运系统的设计和编程）提高兴趣和智力增长；（ii）提高对工程问题解决过程中不同文化之间多样性的认识；（iii）对作为跨文化工程团队成员的工作能力有信心；（四）多元而博学的世界观。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

By 2050, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that approximately 66% of the world’s population will reside in urban areas, posing significant challenges associated with environmental and social sustainability. To address these challenges, many national and global agencies have launched initiatives such as the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Smart City Challenge program, World Bank’s Sustainable Cities Initiative, and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. A multifaceted and holistic approach is the core element in achieving the goals of smart cities, especially balancing the digital infrastructure with the physical infrastructure. Considering the ever-advancing sensors and information technology coupled with the urgency of adapting cities to be resilient to climate change and to provide adequate mobility to the public, the onus is on educators to develop a pedagogic and scholastic approach to preparing our students for the future. There is an urgent and unmet need to expose our students to a research environment where they can appreciate the integrated and interdisciplinary nature of sustainable and smart cities to address a variety of issues surrounding urban areas and develop a multifaceted problem-solving mindset. This project aims to initiate an international research experience for students (IRES) program at Seoul National University (SNU) in South Korea with an overarching research theme of mobility for sustainable and smart cities. The proposed IRES program will support an 8-week summer research experience for a cohort of six U.S. undergraduate/graduate students each year for the three-year duration of the grant. The goals of the proposed IRES program are: (i) To foster creative and multidisciplinary perspectives on problem-solving by exposing students to the research fields of sustainable and smart cities; (ii) to develop global competence by providing students an immersive academic and cultural experience in South Korea; and (iii) to ultimately motivate students to pursue a career in STEM. Furthermore, this proposed IRES program will help our students grow not just as prepared engineers but also as community leaders with a broad and diverse worldview. This IRES project addresses the fundamental research question: How and to what extent a digital infrastructure (e.g., sensors and data science) can enhance human life from an urban mobility perspective? A three-level approach will be emphasized in exploring and delving into the data analytics, optimization techniques, and model building using various tools (e.g., GIS, Unity3D). This innovative and holistic research approach will advance knowledge of the relationship between digital infrastructure and physical infrastructure, and ultimately provide the essential digital infrastructure layout to further support physical infrastructure - a much-needed fundamental information to build a smart city. Furthermore, this will allow our students to capture and understand the importance of a holistic and multidisciplinary approach. Seoul National University’s Smart City Engineering Program provides a state-of-the-art research environment for sustainable and smart cities, with leading experts in engineering, planning, science, and policy, as well as world-class lab and testbed equipment and facilities. Upon completion of this IRES project, we expect students will achieve: (i) Elevated interest and intellectual growth in the immediate and related fields of future mobility for sustainable and smart cities (e.g., big data analyses, code development, design and programming of a multimodal system); (ii) increased awareness of diversity within and across cultures in problem solving in engineering; (iii) confidence in the ability to work as a member of a cross-cultural engineering team; and (iv) diverse and knowledgeable worldview.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.