Asad Ali is currently pursuing a Ph.D.  in Civil Engineering at North Dakota State University. His research focuses on optimizing emergency evacuations during natural disasters such as wildfires and hurricanes, with a particular emphasis on leveraging autonomous and connected vehicle technologies to improve safety and efficiency. As a Research Assistant at the Advanced Traffic Analysis Center (ATAC), Asad contributes to projects assessing infrastructure needs for North Dakota’s roads and bridges, supports traffic data collection, and works on traffic signal timing optimization for the cities of Fargo-Moorhead and Grand Forks. He is passionate about collaborating with engineers and stakeholders to advance traffic engineering and urban mobility solutions and welcomes opportunities to connect with professionals in the field.