Franklin Gbologah

Dr. Gbologah is a Research Engineer II at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. His research has made many pioneering and significant contributions to a broad range of transportation research, from operations of the multi-modal freight transportation system to transportation energy and emission modeling, to operations and safety of highways. Dr. Gbologah successfully developed the first temporally and spatially coupled simulation model of the multi-modal port-freight transportation system to estimate container throughput in the southeastern US. Dr. Gbologah also conducted the first research on roundabout illumination and safety in the U.S. and his work was selected as one of three best papers at the 4th International Conference on Roundabouts. He was subsequently invited by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) to present on a national webinar to commemorate 20 years of roundabout design in the U.S. The webinar was the most attended in TRB history with more than 1200 attendees. Dr. Gbologah also estimated the first potential roundabout illumination crash modification factor; an important safety parameter which is missing in the Highway Safety Manual. Dr. Gbologah also innovated a photographic method to measure roadway illumination levels using a digital camera. He has since utilized his method to lead the report to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) on the cost-effectiveness of illumination as a safety treatment at rural intersections. Dr. Gbologah is also the originator of a revolutionary bottom-up framework that uses travel activity data to predict energy and emission performance of public rail transit vehicles. His model is currently the rail analysis engine in the Transit Fleet and Emissions Calculator that is available for download from the National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST). Dr. Franklin Gbologah has also received awards for academic excellence and research. He received the National Society of Black Engineers Board of Corporate Affiliates Scholar award in 2009, the Georgia Tech Tower Award in 2010, the Dwight David Eisenhower Graduate Fellowship award in 2012 from the Federal Highway Administration.