Dr. Young-Ji Byon Founding Director of the Engineering Program
Education:
Ph.D., University of Toronto
MASc, University of Toronto
BASc, University of Toronto
712-707-7072
youngji.byon@nwciowa.edu
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A distinguished engineering educator with experience in administration, teaching and research on three continents, Dr. Young-Ji Byon began his role as the founding director of Northwestern College’s B.S. in engineering program in July 2023. He came from Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, a top-100 engineering university, where he was the associate chair of the department of civil infrastructure and environmental engineering.
Dr. Byon earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and master’s and doctoral degrees in civil engineering at the University of Toronto. He completed postdoctoral research at the University of Calgary and the University of Chile. With a research focus of intelligent transportation systems—including connected and autonomous vehicles and deep learning-based traffic control—Dr. Byon has managed grants totaling $2.8 million and published more than 50 articles in internationally recognized journals. He received a faculty excellence award from Khalifa University in 2015 and was recognized in 2017 with a UAE national research award for sustainable transportation.
His teaching interests include common engineering courses such as introduction to engineering, engineering graphics and visualization, statics, and dynamics; civil engineering courses such as transportation engineering and geomatics; and mechanical engineering courses such as solid mechanics, engineering materials, and thermodynamics.
Dr. Byon's research interests include intelligent transportation systems, connected and autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence in transportation, traffic monitoring, public transit, airport systems, smart infrastructure, and rural transportation.
Dr. Byon, who helped launch Khalifa University’s civil engineering programs and led its efforts to secure ABET accreditation, has been selected as part of an elite group of engineering educators who will undergo training to become ABET program evaluators in 2025.
