Yanbing Wang

Yanbing Wang was inspired to join the faculty of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University because of the institution’s collaborative and energetic culture in research and education.

“Tempe and Phoenix are also new tech hubs,” says Wang, a new assistant professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering starting in January 2025 in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools.

Wang comes to ASU following a position as a postdoctoral researcher in Argonne National Laboratory’s Vehicle and Mobility Systems Department. Before working at Argonne, she worked as a visiting researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles Institute for Pure & Applied Mathematics and as a research intern at Toyota InfoTech Labs and Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories.

As a traffic engineering expert, Wang says she enjoys the combination of theory and practice the field employs. She explores the use of mathematical foundations to improve traffic flow and study its evolution.

“I’m interested in exploring new technologies such as automated vehicles and vehicle to everything, or V2X, communication to alleviate traffic congestion and improve safety,” Wang says.

Over the course of her academic and professional career, she has received numerous awards, including the Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration five times and the title of Cyber-Physical Systems Rising Star from the University of Virginia Link Lab in 2023. Wang also holds six patents.

She will teach classes in traffic flow and transportation data analytics. Wang also plans to instruct a class that teaches students how to design vehicle control systems that mimic how a human mind would think.

The end goal is to create autonomous vehicles programmed with a holistic perspective to be safe, efficient and accepted by society.

In addition to teaching, Wang says she is excited to advise students at all levels conducting academic research.

“I’ve always enjoyed exploring research topics on my own and enjoyed mentoring students,” she says. “Sometimes students give me other perspectives of approaching a problem.”

Outside of work, Wang enjoys activities that enable her to relax, such as drawing, playing the piano and cycling.

Meet the newest faculty members of the Fulton Schools of Engineering here.

Written by TJ Triolo