IEEE ITSC 2026 Workshop

Integrated Last-Mile and Last-50-Feet: Mobility Solutions for People and Freight
September 15th, 2026 – Naples Maritime Station – Naples, Italy

This half-day workshop aims to bring together researchers, practitioners, and industry experts to explore smart strategies for last-mile and “last-50-feet” freight that improve logistics efficiency and mobility across both urban and rural contexts. While last-mile freight challenges are often examined in dense urban environments and major activity centers, rural counties face distinct and often overlooked freight mobility constraints. These include longer travel distances, limited infrastructure investment, lower delivery densities, restricted access to intermodal facilities, and higher operational costs, all of which impose unique challenges on freight operators and service providers. The workshop will examine smart, data-driven, and technology-enabled approaches to address these issues, including fulfillment location optimization, shared and collaborative delivery models, dynamic routing supported by big data, and Smart Active Freight mobility solutions. Particular attention will be given to how these strategies can be adapted to rural settings while maintaining efficiency and reliability. This workshop will provide a platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration, bridging technological innovation and practical implementation to support resilient, efficient, and inclusive freight mobility systems for both urban and rural communities.

Moderators:

Petros Ioannou, Ph.D., University of Southern California
Evangelos I. Kaisar, Ph.D., Florida Atlantic University
Ali Karimoddini, Ph.D., North Carolina A&T State University
Dimitrios Dimitriou, Ph.D., Democritus University of Thrace

AGENDA

8:30 AM - 8:45 AM: Introduction and Registration

8:45 AM - 9:00 AM: Opening Remarks

Introduction by Petros Ioannou, Ph.D., University of Southern California
Co-chair Evangelos I. Kaisar, Ph.D., Florida Atlantic University

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM: Session 1: Smart and Resilient Mobility, Freight, and Infrastructure Systems

Yunlong Zhang, Ph.D., Texas A&M Transportation Institute
“Truck-as-Hub Vehicle Routing Problem with Drones in Rural Areas”
Dimitrios Dimitriou, Ph.D., Democritus University of Thrace
“Intelligent Infrastructure Management and Smart Logistics for Sustainable Urban Megaprojects: The Case of The Ellinikon Smart City Development”
Montasir Abbas, Ph.D., P.E., Virginia Tech
“Integrated Traffic Operations and Infrastructure Health Monitoring for Smart and Resilient Urban Mobility Systems”
Simona Sacone, Ph.D., University of Genova
“Cooperative logistics for container transportation in regional networks involving ports”

10:00 AM - 10:30 AM: Coffee Break

Networking and informal discussions.

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM: Session 2: Advanced Data Analytics and Optimization for Freight Transportation Systems

Ali Karimoddini, Ph.D., North Carolina A&T State University
“Deployment of Connected and Automated Technologies in Rural Areas”
Evangelos I. Kaisar, Ph.D., Florida Atlantic University
“Supporting Emissions Compliance in Port Drayage through Coordinated Mixed-Fleet Truck Platooning Operations”
Silvia Siri, Ph.D., University of Genova
“Electrified and Autonomous Urban Logistics: Integrated Planning for Smart Charging and Last-Mile Delivery”
Charles Edwards, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Vice President, SASI World
“Using Data to Better Manage Truck Flows at Airports”

11:30 PM - 12:15 PM: Panel Discussions

Ali Karimoddini, Ph.D., North Carolina A&T State University
Dimitrios Dimitriou, Ph.D., Democritus University of Thrace
Charles Edwards, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Vice President, SASI World
Yunlong Zhang, Ph.D., Texas A&M Transportation Institute

12:15 PM - 12:30 PM: Closing Remarks

Petros Ioannou, Ph.D., University of Southern California
Evangelos I. Kaisar, Ph.D., Florida Atlantic University

12:30 PM: Lunch and Networking

Bios

Moderators

Petros Ioannou, PhD, Professor, A.V. "Bal" Balakrishnan Chair, University of Southern California
Petros A. Ioannou received his B.Sc. degree with First Class Honors from University College, London, in 1978 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois in 1980 and 1982. He held a Commonwealth Scholarship and received the Goldsmid Prize and the A. P. Head Prize from University College. From 1979 to 1982, he was a research assistant at the University of Illinois. In 1982, Dr. Ioannou joined the Department of Electrical Engineering-Systems at the University of Southern California, where he is now a Professor and Director of the Center of Advanced Transportation Technologies. His research interests include control systems, adaptive and nonlinear systems, vehicle dynamics, intelligent transportation systems, and neural networks. He has been a visiting professor and served as Dean at the University of Cyprus. Dr. Ioannou received the Outstanding Transactions Paper Award in 1984 and the Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1985. He has held various editorial roles, is a Fellow of IEEE, and has authored/co-authored five books and over 150 research papers.

Evangelos I. Kaisar, PhD, Professor and Chair, Director of the Freight Mobility Research Institute at Florida Atlantic University
Dr. Evangelos I. Kaisar is an Associate Professor at Florida Atlantic University, where he also serves as the Director of the Multimodal Intelligent Systems Laboratory (MITSL), the Geomatics and Transportation Engineering Program, and the Freight Mobility Research Institute (FMRI). He earned his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with a minor in Logistics from the University of Maryland, where he also completed his Master's and Bachelor's degrees. Dr. Kaisar's research interests include transportation network modeling and optimization, emergency response, infrastructure resilience, supply chain security, transportation management, and innovative highway geometric design. He has developed and taught numerous undergraduate and graduate courses in transportation engineering and logistics, and has a strong record of securing research funding, including over $13 million in external funding during his tenure at FAU. Dr. Kaisar has published extensively, with over 150 scientific publications, and has been recognized for his contributions to research and education with several awards, including the Florida Atlantic University Researcher of the Year Award in 2017.

Ali Karimoddini, PhD, Professor, Director of the CR2C2 Regional University Transportation Center at North Carolina A&T State University
Dr. Karimoddini is currently a Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina A&T State University. His teaching and research interests cover a variety of problems at the intersection of Control, Communication, and Computer Science. Dr. Karimoddini is the Director of CR2C2 Regional University Transportation Center (UTC), NC-CAV Center of Excellence on Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Technology and the Autonomous Cooperative Control of Emergent Systems of Systems (ACCESS) Lab. His research interests include autonomy, smart transportation, Urban Air Mobility (UAM), connected and autonomous vehicles, cyber-physical systems, and multi-agent systems. His research has been supported by different federal funding agencies and industrial partners to conduct research on the development of autonomous vehicles and their applications. He has received over $55 million in grants and contracts from federal funding agencies and industrial partners as the PI or Co-PI to research the development of autonomous vehicles and their applications. He is the recipient of the NC A&T 2015 Rookie of the year and 2019 and 2021 Interdisciplinary Research Award. He is also a senior member of IEEE.

Dimitrios Dimitriou, PhD, Professor, Director of the MaGBISE Research Laboratory at the Democritus University of Thrace
Dr. Dimitriou holds a Doctorate in Econometric Modelling in Transportation, an MSc in Airports Planning and Management, an MSc in Infrastructure Environmental Management, and a Diploma in Transportation Engineering. He is Professor of Transportation Systems and Supply Chain Management at the Department of Economics, Democritus University of Thrace (DUTh), Greece, where he also serves as Head of the Department and Director of the MaGBISE Research Laboratory (Management, Governance, Business Intelligence, Strategy and Corporate Ethics in Infrastructure Operators, Networks and Supply Chain). His expertise includes large-scale investment appraisal, project financing and management, transport and supply chain economics, performance management, strategic decision-making, sustainable development, and transportation planning. With more than 25 years of academic and professional experience, he has contributed to 20 research projects (four as project leader) and authored 47 journal papers, 93 international conference papers, five international book chapters, and numerous additional scholarly contributions. In 2018, he received the British Council Study UK Alumni Professional Achievement Award in Greece.

Presenters

Montasir Abbas, PhD, Professor, PE, Virginia Tech
Dr. Abbas, a recipient of the Federal Highway Administration Exploratory and Advanced Research (FHWA EAR) program award, has significantly contributed to advancements in highway engineering and intermodal surface transportation through research utilizing agent-based modeling to study driver behavior. He has also conducted notable research for the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) and the Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC) on traffic control strategies and next-generation control evaluations. During his Ph.D. at Purdue University, Dr. Abbas developed the Purdue Real-Time Offset Transitioning Algorithm for Coordinating Traffic Signals (PRO-TRACTS), bridging adaptive control systems with closed-loop systems. His work includes the development and implementation of several innovative algorithms and systems such as the Platoon Identification and Accommodation system (PIA), Pattern Identification Logic for Offset Tuning (PILOT 05), Supervisory Control Intelligent Adaptive Module (SCIAM), and the Safety and Mobility Agent-based Reinforcement-learning Traffic Simulation Add-on Module (SMART SAM). Additionally, he was a key developer of the dilemma zone protection Detection Control System (D-CS), recognized as one of Texas's top research innovations in 2002.

Mr. Charles Edwards, UNC at Chapel Hill, Vice President at SASI World
Charles Edwards is Director of the NC Department of Transportation Logistics and Freight division. Edwards began his career as a truck driver, was on the senior management team of the North Carolina-based airline that started United Parcel Service Airlines, helped introduce an innovative container to the international airline industry, managed a commercial airport, led the development of the world’s largest air vehicle, managed the NCDOT rail division, and has been a senior advisor to public and private aviation and logistics projects in the United States, Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and the United Arab Emirates. He holds degrees from universities in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. He co-leads an international air cargo education program and serves on various international and US logistics industry boards.

Simona Sacone, PhD, Professor, University of Genoa
Dr. Sacone is a Professor of Automatic Control at the Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics, and Systems Engineering at the University of Genoa, Italy. Her research focuses on automatic control, intelligent transportation systems, logistics systems, traffic modeling and control, and smart mobility. She teaches courses related to systems theory, identification and estimation techniques, sustainable systems modeling, and optimization and control of logistics systems. Dr. Sacone has contributed extensively to transportation and mobility research, including freeway traffic control, platoon control, ramp metering, electric and automated vehicle systems, and truck scheduling in container terminals. She also coordinates the Ph.D. Course on Systems Engineering and has held leadership roles within the intelligent transportation systems community, including serving as Program Chair for IEEE ITSC 2026.

Silvia Siri, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Genoa
Dr. Siri is an Associate Professor of Automatic Control at the Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics, and Systems Engineering at the University of Genoa, Italy. She received her Ph.D. in Information and Communication Technologies from the University of Genoa in 2006. Her research focuses on modeling, optimization, and control of traffic, logistics, and energy systems, with particular emphasis on urban and freeway traffic systems, seaport container terminals, logistics networks, and smart and electric mobility. Dr. Siri has also contributed to the intelligent transportation systems community through editorial and leadership roles, including serving as Senior Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, Associate Editor of IEEE Control Systems Letters, former Chair of the IEEE ITSS Italy Chapter, Program Co-Chair of IEEE ITSC 2023, and Publication Chair of IEEE ITSC 2026.

Yunlong Zhang, PhD, Professor, Texas A&M University
Dr. Yunlong Zhang is a Professor at the Zachry Department of Civil & Environment Engineering at Texas A&M University and also holds a joint appointment with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. Dr. Zhang has more than 35 years of professional experience as an engineer, educator, and researcher in transportation engineering. He has conducted scholarly and practical research in many areas of transportation engineering, including modeling, simulation, and analysis of traffic flow, traffic control devices and signal systems, safety analysis, and modeling and evaluation of advanced technologies such as connected and autonomous vehicles. One of his particular strengths is artificial intelligence applications in transportation, and he served as a long time member and research sub-committee chair of TRB’s committee Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Computing. He has published over 130 journal papers including many papers in top journals such as IEEE transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, and Transportation Research Parts A, B, C, D, E and F.