草莓污视频导航

Aug. 26, 2024

草莓污视频导航 researcher looks to build smarter cities using game theory and technology

Seiran Heshami extends her studies of transportation systems to bring a holistic approach to complex urban planning
Seiran Heshami
Seiran Heshami is hoping game theory will help engineers build smarter cities. Joe McFarland, Schulich School of Engineering

A researcher鈥檚 interest in transportation systems has bloomed into a broader passion for creating smarter cities and communities.

For the last decade, Dr. Seiran Heshami, MSc鈥16, PhD鈥21, has used co-operative game theory approaches to help solve major transportation infrastructure issues.

Recognizing the parallels between transportation networks and complex urban systems, Heshami says she wanted to take a more holistic approach to community-building.

鈥淚 came to the realization that the are interconnected calls for systemic solutions that are holistic and integrated,鈥 Heshami says. 鈥淔or instance, addressing poverty is not just about economic upliftment, but it also connects to education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, and economic growth.鈥

Her hope is help redefine the design, planning and operation of urban environments to make cities more livable, sustainable, equitable and resilient.

Infrastructure management through game theory

Heshami鈥檚 approach to smart cities was built on the foundation she created with her work in transportation infrastructure management.

After arriving at the 草莓污视频导航 in 2014 as a master鈥檚 student before earning her PhD, her research first focused on more equitable freeway-management solutions.

鈥淪itting in a traffic jam on a highway is a frustrating daily experience for most of us,鈥 Heshami says. 鈥淥ften, these jams occur without any accidents or road closures, mainly due to a surge in demand at (on- and off-) ramps acting as bottlenecks and vehicles forcing their way onto the freeway.鈥 

Often, she says, the solutions improve the conditions in one location, but can make it worse further down the road. This is where game theory comes into play.

鈥淕ame theory is the mathematical modelling of strategic interaction among rational (and irrational) players,鈥 Heshami says. 鈥淏eyond what we call 鈥榞ames鈥 in common language 鈥 such as chess, poker and soccer 鈥 it includes the modelling of conflict among players while trying to achieve a balanced payoff for everyone.鈥

Her solution was found in dynamic bargaining 鈥済ames,鈥 where the ramp controllers are able to 鈥渢alk鈥 with each other and exchange information to find solutions that balance the traffic situation at each ramp.

She says the idea of co-operative games was popularized in movies like A Beautiful Mind, a 2001 film about mathematician John Nash, a Nobel laureate in economics whose concepts are now considered central to game theory and its applications in various sciences.

Focus on the future

While focusing on transportation infrastructure, Heshami says she started to see how her approaches could be used in a much larger context.

Her postdoctoral research has focused on 鈥渃oalition game theory鈥 鈥 a branch of game theory that focuses on understanding how groups of players can work together to achieve common goals.

鈥淚n these games, players form alliances because they believe they can achieve better outcomes by collaborating rather than competing against each other,鈥 Heshami says. 鈥淭he theory examines how these coalitions form, how the benefits from co-operation are distributed among the members and how stable these alliances are.鈥

She says the benefits are numerous, including equitable benefit distribution, enhanced co-operation, decision-making flexibility, and improved stability and predictability in co-operative endeavours.

Starting as an assistant professor in , Heshami says she is inspired to help build communities with high-functioning smart urban systems and more equitable and sustainable urban infrastructure.

鈥淚 aim to push the boundaries of my research towards the future of smart cities, integrating the social and environmental with the technological and physical elements,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 hope to see this all brought together in every aspect of smart urban systems design, development and operation.鈥


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