PI spotlight: Huaguo Zhou

Huaguo Zhou has been a principal investigator on several IDOT projects, including a study that investigated the causes of wrong-way driving in Illinois and suggested countermeasures to prevent future collisions. Zhou has two projects in progress—one focuses on the development of a Highway Incident Management Training Guide for initial responders. The training guide earned recognition at the 2012 Transportation Highway and Engineering Conference. Zhou and co-principal investigator Ryan Fries received the 2012 ICT High Impact Award for this training guide. Zhou is also a principal investigator on another IDOT project that focuses on the most efficient ways to synthesize data for the Rural Highways Inventory.

Zhou says he enjoys working on IDOT projects and is pleased when his research can improve the safety of Illinois’ roads. Another goal of his research is to involve students in his research so that they have the opportunity to apply what they are learning in the classroom. In addition to ICT/IDOT, Zhou has also received funding from the Florida Department of Transportation and several SIUE programs.

Zhou has been an assistant professor at SIUE since 2008. Prior to that, he worked as a Senior Research Associate at the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida and as a Transportation Engineer for Parsons Brinkerhoff. He holds Ph.D.s in transportation engineering from the University of South Florida and in railway engineering from Beijing Jia-Tong University.

In addition to his research and teaching, Zhou is a sports enthusiast who participates in basketball, tennis, and yoga regularly.