Teaching

Previous semester teaching is listed below.

For current course and teaching information, please visit the Home page. 

Fall 2023

ORF 467: Transportation Systems Planning & Analysis

Syllabus
Class: Mon. & Wed. 1:30-2:50pm; 108 Friend Center +
Precepts: Monday 7:30-8:20pm; 110 Friend Center
TA: Yizhan Shu
Course Overview: Studied is the transportation sector of the economy from systems technology, planning, deployment and operational perspectives. The focus is on fundamental modeling, analytical methodologies and artificial intelligence (AI) that support:

  • regional, national and international; long and short-range; Capital and Operational Planning, made by public sector oversight entities
  • the formulation and analysis of technological innovations and infrastructure investments made by both the private sector and the public sector, especially those focused on the application of automation to fundamentally improve the transportation sector of the economy,
  • the real-time operational decision making by transportation service companies, and
  • investigation of the evolving use of artificial intelligence in the safe and efficient operation of various modes of transportation, especially road transportation.

The transportation sector of the economy is one in which a continuing tug-of-war exists between the private sector and the public sector that seeks a balance between private sector market forces and broad oversight and infrastructure investments by the public sector.

The transport sector of the world economy is a fundamental contributor to improved quality-of-life. Better mobility is a better life, for the most part. The sector is a complement of a vast (sunk) investment in physical infrastructure, conventional operating practices and technologies, established/entrenched laws, rules, policies public oversight and regulations, established/entrenched private operating companies. In the recent past (last 100 years or so) the public sector and the military have played major roles in the technological, operational and physical infrastructure elements of the transport sector; however, the continued progress of Moore s Law in computation, data storage and communications is spurring the private sector to aspirations of r/evolutionizing and substantially disrupting much of the transport sector of the world economy. These disruptive efforts, focused on automation and improved efficiency in addressing uncertainty, are attracting enormous private sector intellectual talent and financial investment. The fact that Adam Jonas, Morgan Stanley lead automotive sector analyst put a $175B valuation on Waymo, a company that has yet to earn its first dollar is just the tip of the iceberg.

While the road transport sector of the world economy is in the cross hairs of many of these technological disruptions, the rest of the modes of transport air, water rail and even pipe are all under siege.

Traditional issues that continue to be important are:

  • Energy: 1/3 of the energy consumed in the US is consumed by the transportation sector. Today, essentially all is carbon based. Most is used to power our road transport system. Concern about global warming, oil spills, $147 a barrel oil, hybrids, and the vehicle and infrastructure needs convert to the electrification of our dominant road transportation system.
  • Security: the heightened sensitivity following 9-11, international terrorism and hacking
  • Funding: the construction and maintenance of road and public transportation infrastructure has been funded by a most elegant system of taxing fuel consumption (gasoline/diesel), which unfortunately has plateaued with declining expectations. Can concepts such as value (aka congestion) pricing, private toll roads, VMT (vehicle-mile-tax), and for-profit mass transportation pick up the slack and address the fact that electric vehicles don not consume any gasoline or diesel?
  • Local issue: Traffic congestion, road construction, transportation-related environmental issues and the stagnation of transportation funding sources are dominant themes of grass roots planning and policy analysis,
  • Fundamental equity issues associated with those that have good access to mobility (largely those that own cars) and those that for what ever reason, do not have access to a personal automobile,
  • Intelligent Transportation Technology (ITS): With roots in Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) beginning more than 40 years ago, computer and information technology has promised that it would revolutionize mass transit and provide unparalleled mobility for all. To date, success has been mixed. PRT never got off the ground, but is still trying. Automated Highway System (AHS) have suffered a similar fate. More modest efforts involving electronic tolling (EZPass, et al), turn-by turn navigation (CoPilot|Live. and others) have become mainstream and once promising V2V and Connected Vehicle initiatives seem to be running out of steam.
  • Apps, Automation & Artificial Intelligence: Over the pat1 13 years or so since the DARPA Challenges there has been ever increasing interests among auto manufacturers and suppliers, technology/entrepreneurial companies, local and national governments around the globe and the general public in fundamentally transforming the mobility of both people and goods and, as a result, substantially changing where and how we choose to live, work and play. New and exciting are systems that look to deliver improved mobility through vehicle sharing that augments traditional vehicle ownership, conventional mass transit and, consequently, our fundamental life styles. This includes the recent surge of bike sharing, car sharing and mobile app based ride-hailing systems.

What is HOT is what I have dubbed as "SmartDrivingCars". This term includes Safe-driving Cars (and trucks & buses) that simply have Automated (Collision Avoidance and Lane Centering) Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), Self-Driving Cars that allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel and feet off the pedals in some driving environments at some times and Driverless Cars that drive themselves the whole way from some origins to some destinations over some routes at some times and, as such, can operate completely empty with no human on-board in those situations. The key aspect of these technologies is that they operate and share the existing streets and roadways with conventional human-operated cars, trucks, buses, bicycles, pedestrians, etc. Safe-driving Cars, the simple collision-avoidance version holds the promise of substantially improving safety and saving money. Self-Driving Cars extend the safety of Safe-driving cars to deliver substantially enhanced driver comfort, convenience and flexibility. The Driverless fundamentally disrupts the mobility system by enabling the provision of high-quality demand responsive mobility to essentially everyone, revolutionizing the efficiency and executions of the distribution of goods at substantially more affordable cost and, in the process substantially reducing (>50%) energy consumption and pollution, and substantially reducing congestion. Seems like a winner!!

Automation technology is rapidly evolving in road vehicles which can trace a beginning with the DARPA 2004,5 &7 Grand Challenges and subsequently spurred by Google and others to deliver a driverless car to the marketplace. A must read chronicling this period is Autonomy by Larry Burns. The traditional automobile industry has responded by beginning to roll out its own Safe-driving collision-avoidance and Self-driving technology that may well make driverless technology a reality in the near future. Since the evolution of this technology may well have a viable business case through fundamental safety improvements in its initial stage, it may well have a feasible evolutionary path to attainment of full driverless. If so, such technology could dramatically change personal mobility and have a substantial impact on land-use, goods movement and the future shape of our cities. See Adam Jonas View on Business Case for SmartDrivingCars: 2-minute version; 12-minute version. A substantial portion of the course is oriented to the study this technology and its implications on how we live.

A substantial part of the course will focus on SmartDrivingCars, the design, creation, testing and enhancement of their automated control systems, the real-time management and operation of fleets of these vehicles, the dynamic deployment and market adoption by the traveling public and the movement of goods, and most importantly, on its implications on how we live and the quality of our lives in the years ahead. See the course syllabus for a description and more information.

Fall 2019

ORF 467: Transportation Systems Planning & Analysis

Syllabus
Class: Mon. & Wed. 1:30-2:50pm; 101 Sherrerd Hall (ORFE Building) +
Precepts: Monday 7:30-8:20pm & 8:30-9:20pm; 001 Sherrerd Hall
TA: Zachary Hervieux-Moore
Course Overview: Studied is the transportation sector of the economy from systems technology, planning, deployment and operational perspectives. The focus is on fundamental modeling, analytical methodologies and artificial intelligence (AI) that support:

  • regional, national and international; long and short-range; Capital and Operational Planning, made by public sector oversight entities
  • the formulation and analysis of technological innovations and infrastructure investments made by both the private sector and the public sector, especially those focused on the application of automation to fundamentally improve the transportation sector of the economy,
  • the real-time operational decision making by transportation service companies, and
  • investigation of the evolving use of artificial intelligence in the safe and efficient operation of various modes of transportation, especially road transportation.

The transportation sector of the economy is one in which a continuing tug-of-war exists between the private sector and the public sector that seeks a balance between private sector market forces and broad oversight and infrastructure investments by the public sector.

The transport sector of the world economy is a fundamental contributor to improved quality-of-life. Better mobility is a better life, for the most part. The sector is a complement of a vast (sunk) investment in physical infrastructure, conventional operating practices and technologies, established/entrenched laws, rules, policies public oversight and regulations, established/entrenched private operating companies. In the recent past (last 100 years or so) the public sector and the military have played major roles in the technological, operational and physical infrastructure elements of the transport sector; however, the continued progress of Moore s Law in computation, data storage and communications is spurring the private sector to aspirations of r/evolutionizing and substantially disrupting much of the transport sector of the world economy. These disruptive efforts, focused on automation and improved efficiency in addressing uncertainty, are attracting enormous private sector intellectual talent and financial investment. The fact that Adam Jonas, Morgan Stanley lead automotive sector analyst put a $175B valuation on Waymo, a company that has yet to earn its first dollar is just the tip of the iceberg.

While the road transport sector of the world economy is in the cross hairs of many of these technological disruptions, the rest of the modes of transport air, water rail and even pipe are all under siege.

Traditional issues that continue to be important are:

  • Energy: 1/3 of the energy consumed in the US is consumed by the transportation sector. Today, essentially all is carbon based. Most is used to power our road transport system. Concern about global warming, oil spills, $147 a barrel oil, hybrids, and the vehicle and infrastructure needs convert to the electrification of our dominant road transportation system.
  • Security: the heightened sensitivity following 9-11, international terrorism and hacking
  • Funding: the construction and maintenance of road and public transportation infrastructure has been funded by a most elegant system of taxing fuel consumption (gasoline/diesel), which unfortunately has plateaued with declining expectations. Can concepts such as value (aka congestion) pricing, private toll roads, VMT (vehicle-mile-tax), and for-profit mass transportation pick up the slack and address the fact that electric vehicles don not consume any gasoline or diesel?
  • Local issue: Traffic congestion, road construction, transportation-related environmental issues and the stagnation of transportation funding sources are dominant themes of grass roots planning and policy analysis,
  • Fundamental equity issues associated with those that have good access to mobility (largely those that own cars) and those that for what ever reason, do not have access to a personal automobile,
  • Intelligent Transportation Technology (ITS): With roots in Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) beginning more than 40 years ago, computer and information technology has promised that it would revolutionize mass transit and provide unparalleled mobility for all. To date, success has been mixed. PRT never got off the ground, but is still trying. Automated Highway System (AHS) have suffered a similar fate. More modest efforts involving electronic tolling (EZPass, et al), turn-by turn navigation (CoPilot|Live. and others) have become mainstream and once promising V2V and Connected Vehicle initiatives seem to be running out of steam.
  • Apps, Automation & Artificial Intelligence: Over the pat1 13 years or so since the DARPA Challenges there has been ever increasing interests among auto manufacturers and suppliers, technology/entrepreneurial companies, local and national governments around the globe and the general public in fundamentally transforming the mobility of both people and goods and, as a result, substantially changing where and how we choose to live, work and play. New and exciting are systems that look to deliver improved mobility through vehicle sharing that augments traditional vehicle ownership, conventional mass transit and, consequently, our fundamental life styles. This includes the recent surge of bike sharing, car sharing and mobile app based ride-hailing systems.

What is HOT is what I have dubbed as "SmartDrivingCars". This term includes Safe-driving Cars (and trucks & buses) that simply have Automated (Collision Avoidance and Lane Centering) Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), Self-Driving Cars that allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel and feet off the pedals in some driving environments at some times and Driverless Cars that drive themselves the whole way from some origins to some destinations over some routes at some times and, as such, can operate completely empty with no human on-board in those situations. The key aspect of these technologies is that they operate and share the existing streets and roadways with conventional human-operated cars, trucks, buses, bicycles, pedestrians, etc. Safe-driving Cars, the simple collision-avoidance version holds the promise of substantially improving safety and saving money. Self-Driving Cars extend the safety of Safe-driving cars to deliver substantially enhanced driver comfort, convenience and flexibility. The Driverless fundamentally disrupts the mobility system by enabling the provision of high-quality demand responsive mobility to essentially everyone, revolutionizing the efficiency and executions of the distribution of goods at substantially more affordable cost and, in the process substantially reducing (>50%) energy consumption and pollution, and substantially reducing congestion. Seems like a winner!!

Automation technology is rapidly evolving in road vehicles which can trace a beginning with the DARPA 2004,5 &7 Grand Challenges and subsequently spurred by Google and others to deliver a driverless car to the marketplace. A must read chronicling this period is Autonomy by Larry Burns. The traditional automobile industry has responded by beginning to roll out its own Safe-driving collision-avoidance and Self-driving technology that may well make driverless technology a reality in the near future. Since the evolution of this technology may well have a viable business case through fundamental safety improvements in its initial stage, it may well have a feasible evolutionary path to attainment of full driverless. If so, such technology could dramatically change personal mobility and have a substantial impact on land-use, goods movement and the future shape of our cities. See Adam Jonas View on Business Case for SmartDrivingCars: 2-minute version; 12-minute version. A substantial portion of the course is oriented to the study this technology and its implications on how we live.

A substantial part of the course will focus on SmartDrivingCars, the design, creation, testing and enhancement of their automated control systems, the real-time management and operation of fleets of these vehicles, the dynamic deployment and market adoption by the traveling public and the movement of goods, and most importantly, on its implications on how we live and the quality of our lives in the years ahead. See the course syllabus for a description and more information.

Spring 2019

ORF 401: Electronic Commerce

Course Overview
Syllabus
Class: Mon. & Wed. 11:00am-12:20pm; Room TBD +
Precepts: Monday 7:30pm-8:20pm, 8:30pm–9:20pm; Room TBD
TA: Zachary Hervieux-Moore

Fall 2018

ORF 467: Transportation Systems Planning & Analysis

Syllabus
Class: Mon. & Wed. 1:30-2:50pm; 101 Sherrerd Hall (ORFE Building) +
Precepts: Tuesdays 7:30-8:20pm & 8:30-9:20pm; 001 Sherrerd Hall
TA: Zachary Hervieux-Moore & Joane Joseph
Course Overview: Studied is the transportation sector of the economy from systems technology, planning, deployment and operational perspectives. The focus is on fundamental modeling, analytical methodologies and artificial intelligence (AI) that support:

  • regional, national and international; long and short-range; Capital and Operational Planning, made by public sector oversight entities
  • the formulation and analysis of technological innovations and infrastructure investments made by both the private sector and the public sector, especially those focused on the application of automation to fundamentally improve the transportation sector of the economy,
  • the real-time operational decision making by transportation service companies, and
  • investigation of the evolving use of artificial intelligence in the safe and efficient operation of various modes of transportation, especially road transportation.

The transportation sector of the economy is one in which a continuing tug-of-war exists between the private sector and the public sector that seeks a balance between private sector market forces and broad oversight and infrastructure investments by the public sector.

The transport sector of the world economy is a fundamental contributor to improved quality-of-life. Better mobility is a better life, for the most part. The sector is a complement of a vast (sunk) investment in physical infrastructure, conventional operating practices and technologies, established/entrenched laws, rules, policies public oversight and regulations, established/entrenched private operating companies. In the recent past (last 100 years or so) the public sector and the military have played major roles in the technological, operational and physical infrastructure elements of the transport sector; however, the continued progress of Moore s Law in computation, data storage and communications is spurring the private sector to aspirations of r/evolutionizing and substantially disrupting much of the transport sector of the world economy. These disruptive efforts, focused on automation and improved efficiency in addressing uncertainty, are attracting enormous private sector intellectual talent and financial investment. The fact that Adam Jonas, Morgan Stanley lead automotive sector analyst put a $175B valuation on Waymo, a company that has yet to earn its first dollar is just the tip of the iceberg.

While the road transport sector of the world economy is in the cross hairs of many of these technological disruptions, the rest of the modes of transport air, water rail and even pipe are all under siege.

Traditional issues that continue to be important are:

  • Energy: 1/3 of the energy consumed in the US is consumed by the transportation sector. Today, essentially all is carbon based. Most is used to power our road transport system. Concern about global warming, oil spills, $147 a barrel oil, hybrids, and the vehicle and infrastructure needs convert to the electrification of our dominant road transportation system.
  • Security: the heightened sensitivity following 9-11, international terrorism and hacking
  • Funding: the construction and maintenance of road and public transportation infrastructure has been funded by a most elegant system of taxing fuel consumption (gasoline/diesel), which unfortunately has plateaued with declining expectations. Can concepts such as value (aka congestion) pricing, private toll roads, VMT (vehicle-mile-tax), and for-profit mass transportation pick up the slack and address the fact that electric vehicles don not consume any gasoline or diesel?
  • Local issue: Traffic congestion, road construction, transportation-related environmental issues and the stagnation of transportation funding sources are dominant themes of grass roots planning and policy analysis,
  • Fundamental equity issues associated with those that have good access to mobility (largely those that own cars) and those that for what ever reason, do not have access to a personal automobile,
  • Intelligent Transportation Technology (ITS): With roots in Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) beginning more than 40 years ago, computer and information technology has promised that it would revolutionize mass transit and provide unparalleled mobility for all. To date, success has been mixed. PRT never got off the ground, but is still trying. Automated Highway System (AHS) have suffered a similar fate. More modest efforts involving electronic tolling (EZPass, et al), turn-by turn navigation (CoPilot|Live. and others) have become mainstream and once promising V2V and Connected Vehicle initiatives seem to be running out of steam.
  • Apps, Automation & Artificial Intelligence: Over the pat1 13 years or so since the DARPA Challenges there has been ever increasing interests among auto manufacturers and suppliers, technology/entrepreneurial companies, local and national governments around the globe and the general public in fundamentally transforming the mobility of both people and goods and, as a result, substantially changing where and how we choose to live, work and play. New and exciting are systems that look to deliver improved mobility through vehicle sharing that augments traditional vehicle ownership, conventional mass transit and, consequently, our fundamental life styles. This includes the recent surge of bike sharing, car sharing and mobile app based ride-hailing systems.

What is HOT is what I have dubbed as "SmartDrivingCars". This term includes Safe-driving Cars (and trucks & buses) that simply have Automated (Collision Avoidance and Lane Centering) Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), Self-Driving Cars that allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel and feet off the pedals in some driving environments at some times and Driverless Cars that drive themselves the whole way from some origins to some destinations over some routes at some times and, as such, can operate completely empty with no human on-board in those situations. The key aspect of these technologies is that they operate and share the existing streets and roadways with conventional human-operated cars, trucks, buses, bicycles, pedestrians, etc. Safe-driving Cars, the simple collision-avoidance version holds the promise of substantially improving safety and saving money. Self-Driving Cars extend the safety of Safe-driving cars to deliver substantially enhanced driver comfort, convenience and flexibility. The Driverless fundamentally disrupts the mobility system by enabling the provision of high-quality demand responsive mobility to essentially everyone, revolutionizing the efficiency and executions of the distribution of goods at substantially more affordable cost and, in the process substantially reducing (>50%) energy consumption and pollution, and substantially reducing congestion. Seems like a winner!!

Automation technology is rapidly evolving in road vehicles which can trace a beginning with the DARPA 2004,5 &7 Grand Challenges and subsequently spurred by Google and others to deliver a driverless car to the marketplace. A must read chronicling this period is Autonomy by Larry Burns. The traditional automobile industry has responded by beginning to roll out its own Safe-driving collision-avoidance and Self-driving technology that may well make driverless technology a reality in the near future. Since the evolution of this technology may well have a viable business case through fundamental safety improvements in its initial stage, it may well have a feasible evolutionary path to attainment of full driverless. If so, such technology could dramatically change personal mobility and have a substantial impact on land-use, goods movement and the future shape of our cities. See Adam Jonas View on Business Case for SmartDrivingCars: 2-minute version; 12-minute version. A substantial portion of the course is oriented to the study this technology and its implications on how we live.

A substantial part of the course will focus on SmartDrivingCars, the design, creation, testing and enhancement of their automated control systems, the real-time management and operation of fleets of these vehicles, the dynamic deployment and market adoption by the traveling public and the movement of goods, and most importantly, on its implications on how we live and the quality of our lives in the years ahead. See the course syllabus for a description and more information.

Fall 2017

ORF 467: Transportation Systems Planning & Analysis

Syllabus
Class: Mon. & Wed. 1:30-2:50pm; 101 Sherrerd Hall (ORFE Building) +
Precepts: Tuesdays 7:30-8:20pm & 8:30-9:20pm; 001 Sherrerd Hall

Course Overview: Studied is the transportation sector of the economy from a systems technology and planning perspective. The focus is on fundamental modeling and analytical methodologies that support

  • regional, national and international; long and short-range; Capital and Operational Planning,
  • real-time operational decision making by transportation companies, and
    -the formulation and analysis of long-range innovation and infrastructure investments focused on the transportation sector of the economy

The transportation sector of the economy is one in which a continuing tug-of-war exists between the private sector and the public sector that seeks a balance between private sector market forces and broad oversight and infrastructure investments by the public sector. Shifting priorities focused on stimulating broad economic recovery, job creation, logistical efficiencies and technological innovation to provide opportunities for enhancing mobility through synergistic investments in transportation by both the public and private sectors of the economy. The development of successful innovative investments requires a fundamental, thorough and deep understanding of the demand for mobility by both people and goods as well the physical and operational characteristics of traditional and innovative supply-side technologies.

In the recent past the major issues have been associated with:

  • Energy: 1/3 of the energy consumed in the US is consumed by the transportation sector. Today, essentially all is carbon based. Most is used to power our road transport system. Concern about global warming, oil spills, $147 a barrel oil, hybrids, and the vehicle and infrastructure needs convert to the electrification of our dominant road transportation system.
  • Security: the heightened sensitivity following 9-11, international terrorism and hacking
  • Funding: the construction and maintenance of road and public transportation infrastructure has been funded by a most elegant system of taxing fuel consumption (gasoline/diesel), which unfortunately has plateaued with declining expectations. Can concepts such as "value" (aka congestion) pricing, private toll roads, VMT (vehicle-mile-tax), and for-profit mass transportation pick up the slack and address the fact that electric vehicles don not consume any gasoline or diesel?
  • Local issue: Traffic congestion, road construction, transportation-related environmental issues and the stagnation of transportation funding sources are dominant themes of grass roots planning and policy analysis,
  • Intelligent Transportation Technology (ITS): With roots in Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) beginning more than 40 years ago, computer and information technology has promised that it would revolutionize mass transit and provide unparalleled mobility for all. To date, success has been mixed. PRT never got off the ground, but is still trying. Automated Highway System (AHS) have suffered a similar fate. More modest efforts involving electronic tolling (EZPass, et al), turn-by turn navigation (CoPilot|Live. and others) have become mainstream and once promising V2V and Connected Vehicle initiatives seem to be running out of steam.
  • Apps, Automation & Artificial Intelligence: Over the pat1 12 years or so since the DARPA Challenges there has been ever increasing interests among auto manufacturers and suppliers, technology/entrepreneurial companies, local and national governments around the globe and the general public in fundamentally transforming the mobility of both people and goods and, as a result, substantially changing where and how we choose to live, work and play. New and exciting are systems that look to deliver improved mobility through vehicle sharing that augments traditional vehicle ownership, conventional mass transit and, consequently, our fundamental life styles. This includes the recent surge of bike sharing, car sharing and mobile app based ride finding systems.

What is HOT is what I have dubbed as "SmartDrivingCars". This term includes Safe-driving Cars (and trucks & buses) that simply have Automated (Collision Avoidance and Lane Centering) Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), Self-Driving Cars that allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel and feet off the pedals in some driving environments at some times and Driverless Cars that drive themselves the whole way from some origins to some destinations over some routes at some times and, as such, can operate completely empty with no human on-board in those situations. The key aspect of these technologies is that they operate and share the existing streets and roadways with conventional human-operated cars, trucks, buses, bicycles, pedestrians, etc. Safe-driving Cars, the simple collision-avoidance version holds the promise of substantially improving safety and saving money. Self-Driving Cars extend the safety of Safe-driving cars to deliver substantially enhanced driver comfort, convenience and flexibility. The Driverless fundamentally disrupts the mobility system by enabling the provision of high-quality demand responsive mobility to essentially everyone, revolutionizing the efficiency and executions of the distribution of goods at substantially more affordable cost and, in the process substantially reducing (>50%) energy consumption and pollution, and substantially reducing congestion. Seems like a winner!!

Spring 2017

ORF 401: eCommerce

Syllabus
Class: Mon. & Wed. 11:00am-12:20pm; 101 Sherrerd Hall (ORFE Building) +
Precepts: 50 Minute Precept Monday or Tuesday 7:30-8:20pm.

Course Overview: Electronic commerce, commonly called eCommerce, is traditionally defined as the buying and selling of goods using electronic transaction processing technologies. Over the past twenty (20) years these approaches have gone through a cycle that has extolled great promise, then bitter disappointments only to be followed lately by a substantial rebound and growth to respectability and now dominance.

With the world having rebound from the 2008 economic downturn and now possibly facing a plateau / inflection point, but Apple iPhone sales are as strong as ever, the efficiency, scope and reach of eCommerce continues to set records.

Moreover, eCommerce continues to evolve both technologically and in the scope of its market reach. Technologically, desktop and laptop/notebook computers have been the dominant client/user-side technology with the server-side being either dedicated boxes owned/managed by the eCommerce entity (e.g. the entity providing the goods/services) or an intermediate entity providing "cloud computing" resources shared by many eCommerce companies.

More recently, Apple, Samsun, Amazon and a host of others have evolved this paradigm by creating an environment by which mobile devices such as an iPhone, iPad, Android-based smartPhones, a host of Tablets (that cost as little as $40.), and (Heaven Forbid!) Wareables, glasses, Google Cardboard, HoloLens and Oculus Rift have emerged as the everywhere/everytime client-side augmented & virtual reality technologies.

The extreme portability, mobility and place-aware nature of these devices is transforming and exploding the fundamental character of the eCommerce environment. Enabled is on-the-go eCommerce that is place- and time-aware now, has remembered the past and continually makes intelligent expectations about the future.

The scope of the eCommerce market has also evolved beyond the narrow buying and selling of goods to include services of all kinds including entertainment, communications and transportation/mobility that is making eCommerce an integral part of everyone's daily life. It is these fundamental daily personal services provided by the extended scope of eCommerce that have the opportunity to substantially enhance the quality-of-daily life of "all" "consumers" and "all" quality-of -life "providers".

Interestingly, eCommerce and its fundamental ability to correlate information at essentially zero cost so that the provider enables the consumer to not only find the "needle" in the hay stack but also the "thread" and assembles them in an environment so that it is trivial and inexpensive for the "button to be sowed". It is this mobile eCommerce space, that is the creation of an enhanced environment while on-the-go, that is of greatest interest to me.

One travels to enhance one's time and place utility. Today, the world spends roughly $10T for that utility enhancement.

Technology and eCommerce are evolving to completely disrupt how and the extent to which that utility enhancement is going to be delivered to society.

Traditionally mobility services have required the expenditures of money, displeasure and wasted time all while wreaking havoc on the environment.

Automated technology and mobile eCommerce can substantially enhance all elements by enabling a better use of the time, bringing enhanced entertainment and information to alleviate displeasure, allowing the mode of transport to operate more efficiently, thus saving money while being more environmentally responsible. These combine to make it "affordable" in terms of money, pleasure, time and negative externalities to experience a broader array of destinations that otherwise would not have a place and time utility enhancement that would justify the traditional investment in money, displeasure and time. Such improvements open up vast new markets.

In this course we will study

  1. the basics fundamentals of the business and economic motivations for eCommerce as well as the needs and desires of individuals,
  2. the underlying computation, information and communication environments that encompass and enable eCommerce transactions, and
  3. the evolving role of new highly portable, place-aware, always-with-you personal devices in eCommerce.

We will focus exclusively on those electronic and process technologies that allow for transactions to be conducted with little or no human intervention on the part of the buyer/consumer or the seller/provider. We will characterize the value proposition afforded by such transactions. Initially we will focus on traditional stationary transactions using "wired" connections; however, we will quickly evolve to focus on transactions that are made while on-the-go that, out of necessity, use 2-way wireless communication. This leads us to look into Navigation-based Commerce (nCommerce) and Navigation-based Entertainment (nTertainment or TravelTainment) and even delve into Smart Driving Cars that may allow everyone to more fully enjoy the process of getting there. And there might even be a business case associated with focusing on this sector. Hyundai seems to thinks so since they focused their 2015 Super Bowl 30 seconds on one aspect as does Chunka Mui and MB with two full-page ads in the NYT.

We will look at the role and opportunity of extremely mobile, place aware, communications and computing enabled devices such as smartPhones (iPhone, Android,WinMobile (?), RIM (??)etc.), and smartPads (iPads, and the plethora of Android tablets), wearables (watches and glasses (or are they simply too goofy??)) and Android, the open handset alliance.

A central element that has fueled this nCommerce and nTertainment revolution is a substantially new intermediaries in the eCommerce equation, "App Stores" and "Ubers". While seemingly very different they are really fundamentally the same basic paradigm that is very much in its infancy. They both have fundamentally created an eCommerce environment by which those that are capable and intrinsically motivated to provide a service are empowered to focus all of their attention on the provision of that service while all of the "overhead" necessary to efficiently and effectively manage, market, sell and deliver that service is done efficiently and effectively by these new eCommerce enterprises.
Think about it! "Coders" develop Apps, "AppStores" do everything else and "Cash" appears in the "Coder's account."Drivers" drive and "Ubers" do everything else and "Cash" appears in the Driver's account. Everybody's a "Happy Camper". (Even though both coders and drivers may "on average" be making "less than minimum wage". Who cares...coders and drivers are getting to do what they want to do when they want to do it. What a great country!

We will attempt to characterize this "App-fication" (aka "Uber-fication") , analyze it and try to understand how these technologies can enhance everyone's daily life as well as create opportunities for those that wish to focus on "doing their own thing (or doing what they do best, or ...).

The last third and most important part of the course focuses on the design and construction of eCommerce and nCommerce applications in the following areas:

Navigation-based Commerce and Entertainment (nCommerce and nTertainment)

With the transformation of cell phones into powerful mobile computing devices sporting wireless data communications, sizeable memory and a sense of "where am I" they have given rise to a market segment widely known as Location-based Services (LBS). However, when coupled with a knowledge of "where am I going", and a route planned by a navigation system, one not only has current knowledge of place and time but leading indicators of future locations and times. These leading indicators transform LBS into Navigation-based Services (NBS) or what I prefer to call Navigation-based Commerce, nCommerce, which can better target valuable services to the mobile consumer thus transforming the underlying economic proposition. Advertisers can expect better results and can be expected to pay more for navigation-based placements, thus transforming the underlying economics of nCommerce. The anticipation of where you will be when can also enhance games and entertainment, thus nTertainment.

One area that may well be in need of a valuable plug-in is that of events. By their very nature, events seek to attract participants/attendees from many places to a single place for a short time period. As such their clientele exhibit a many2one then a one2many travel patterns before and after the event. Because of the event timing there exists some concentration of travel demand both spatially and temporally giving rise to opportunities for casual ride-sharing (defined as ride-sharing among unrelated persons). The interesting aspect about those traveling to an event is that they really are correlated and that correlation, if exposed (made known to each other) could lead to the casual sharing of rides among the event goers. More importantly those traveling from about the same place at about the same time in these situations may well welcome the idea of traveling together because they share a common "bond" interest in attending/participating in the event. To my knowledge, there exists no plug-in or app that attempt to bring together these folks that may well appreciate being brought together to share a ride. We should develop such an app/plug-in.

We will explore these opportunities, although I'd really like us to focus on the mobility delivery sector. We'll discuss.

More traditional ones follow:

This is the traditional application which has already delivered substantial improvements in world-wide logistics but continues to need innovation, especially with respect to its ability to respond in real-time, the data systems needed to support such activities and the ready availability of "apps" that can allow the literally millions of small players to also optimize the management of their mobile assets.

  • Leveraging Google Maps

The ready availability of high-resolution satellite imagery over the past couple of years has provided a very valuable source of data to a large array of spatially-oriented activities to such an extent that companies are even painting their email address on the roofs of their buildings. We've used them in Orf 467 to investigate how PRT and aTaxi networks might better serve New Jersey. A vast array of other opportunities exist. We'll focus on applications and services that can be enhanced by the ready availability of these images.

One application done in Orf 401 was the original real time visualization of the location of the Campus Shuttles. Also look at this Spatial Dot Maps (The key to this is that they have pixelated the data and chosen to fill the pixel with a color correlated to the data value. Someone in the class should implement something similar.

  • Bringing it together on the iPhone, iPad and Android devices

At one point there was Microsoft, with WindowsCE and Windows Mobile, Nokia, with Symbian, Qualcomm with BREW, RIM with Blackberry and Palm with the PalmOS that pioneered the development of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and smartPhones. Then Google entered with Android, an open and free operating system developed by the Open Handset Alliance, a group of more than 30 technology companies. Now with Apple's proprietary iOS they are now the clear leaders in the booming smartPhone and ultra-portable multifunctional personal devices. They compute; communicate; geolocate; capture and display images; receive, record and play audio; sense acceleration; and sense touch and motion on its screen. While these devices have literally hundreds of thousands of applications what else should they be able to do? What are the emerging and untapped uses for these devices?

  • Augmented Reality

We are all familiar with the first down lines that are drawn on the field and the extent that they improve "reality". Now golf is showing us Ball Flight Tracker. These processes of superimposing virtual images on real images present an opportunity to substantially leverage the value of cameras available on GPS-enabled SmartPhones. Google's Glass has morphed into Microsoft's (and other similar) HoloLens. Explored will be this continuing to be emerging opportunity.

  • Using "SETI" and "Wiki" principles to assemble, maintain and distributed human knowledge: Alain's Streets

For almost 20 years I worked to assemble and maintain a reasonable network (arc and node attributes) database of the North American street system. Before the downturn in the economy, the two major digital map companies were sold for $8.1B (NavTeQ) and $3.3B (TeleAtlas). Trimble bought ALK in December 2012 and Apple may have avoided some substantial embarrassment with its map application had it made an appropriate acquisition Google Maps announces a 400 year advantage over Apple Maps. Waze is out there trying to do it completely with current users. So is OpenStreetMap. MobilEye is seeing detailed maps as a substantial part of their future.

Google and several "share -ware" sites continue to try to build competitive world-wide digital map databases by assembling local knowledge from volunteers.

What about other geographical data elements that are more dynamic such as travel times, (Inrix), and "who wants to go from where, to where, when?". How can we use the concepts of the "SETI screensaver" and Wiki to design and build eCommerce sites to effectively assemble, maintain and distribute valuable services associated with spatial-temporal information?

Nominal homework assignments revolve around the design, construction and evaluation of a traditional eCommerce site. Through a series of assignments, the first part of the course will focus on a generic example.

In the past we have we focused on the rental of DVDs for viewing on airplanes (now a very old concept, but one that became NetFlix.) What a shame we didn't pursue it seriously because we could have become "NetFlix" before "NetFlix".

Last year we switch to creating a ride-sharing site called HandyRides for which we have the URL HandyRides.com . The focus is the creation of a plug-in that would be really used by anyone who is putting together an event. Since any event involves folks coming from many place to one place at about the same time and the reverse, there is an enormous opportunity to share rides, if only there was a "plug-in" that would "make it happen". That's what we'll all be doing in the first part.

The second part of the course will be team project-oriented. It will focus on developing a more substantive student-motivated eCommerce initiative. In place of a final exam, the team Projects will be presented, at a course symposium to be held at the end of reading period.

Popular Background readings are:

Lectures

Part 1: Introduction
Date Title Reading Notes
2/6 Overview of eCommerce, Enrolled Students; Your Availability for Precept Zero to One: Notes on Startups by Peter Thiel & Moovel Interesting Links 2/6/17; eCommerce Company Assignment
2/8 Perspectives on eCommerce Laudon Ch 3 or Deitel 3 The Internet and The World Wide Web, Interesting Links 2/8/17
Part 2: Part II. Software Technologies and Case Studies of eCommerce
Date Title Reading Notes
2/13 HTTP Servers, Basic Client-Server Example, Server-side Data and Transaction Processing; eBusiness Models Handout2 ; Bessemers Top 10 Laws of E-Commerce; How Search Works; html5 Tutorial; Basic background: Laudon Ch 2 or Deitel Ch 3 and Dietel 10.6-10.7, 29.1, 29.3-29.6 eBusiness Notes; Access to cPanel; Interesting Links_2/13/17
2/13 Precept Preparation for Lab 1; Plus: JAVA, PHP and cPanel Hall 16.2-16.5,17.4, 18.1-18.6 (JAVA Related) ; HTML5 Reference, PHP Tutorial, cPanel User Guide, Python Tutorial,and Quick HTML Reference Lab 1: Server-Side Processing with HTTP - Part I
2/15 Client-Side Processing. Example: Handout3 JavaScript Tutorial ; Hall Ch19.1 - 19.6 JavaScript Notes 2/15/17; InterestingLinks_2/15/17
2/20 Cookies; Handout4 ;& Intro to CSS and Beyond HTML:XML Cookie Tutorial; Cookies & PHP;& CSS Tutorial, InterestingLinks_2/20/17, Cookies Notes 2/20/17
2/22 Special Seminar: Solomon Abiola'13, Grad Student, Rochester U. "Re-Defining the Health Ecosystem: From Health Lab to Health Startup"; InterestingLinks_2/22/17 Discussion of Un Met Needs HW2 Assignment
2/27 Special Seminar: Spencer Lucian'08,VP, Operations and Business Intelligence, FromYouFowers.com "Using the Internets to: Make Hay When the Sun Shines; Else, Preparation." InterestingLinks_2/27
2/27 Precept Initial discussion of Lab 3: Client-Side Processing with HTTP    
3/1 Special Seminar: Robert Moore'06 , Founder & CEO RJMetrics "Creating an eCommerce company from scratch and then selling it: An Investor and Entrepreneur's Perspective" Discussion of Un Met Needs HW2 Assignment & InterestingLinks_03/01/17
3/6 Introduction to XML; handoutNvML XML Tutorial InterestingLinks_2/20/17, XML Notes 2/20/17
3/6 Precept Lab 3: Client-Side Processing with HTTP Cookie Tutorial  
3/8 Special Seminar: Larry Reich, Technology & Consumer Electronics Guru "Future of the iPhone,iPad,Android and other mobile eCommerce technologies" InterestingLinks_3/27
3/13 WebGL Learning WebGL WebGL Notes 3/13 InterestingLinks_3/13/17
3/13 Precept Mid-term Week: Precept Canceled; However, Think about who you'll work with on... HW3: Final Project - Preliminary Proposal Due 3/27  
3/15 Final Projects Due 3/27 HW3: Final Project - Preliminary Proposal , , InterestingLinks_3/9/16 Keppler Image Gallery
3/19–3/25 Midterm Break Work on Designing Your Final Project While on the Beach  
3/27 Special Seminar: Troy Ewnachyna'94, VP Business Development and Digital Strategy, NBC Sports & Olympics "Beyond Streaming SuperBowl LVIX, Lessons Learned",  
3/27 Precept Final Project StoryBoard Presentations Current Partners , StoryBoardLineUp  
3/29 Special Seminar: Rob Hill'84 President, Americon Consulting "Internet Auctions: Game Theory and (Ir)rational Behavior" Auction Reference Links; Auction-Theory Notes InterestingLinks_3/29/17
4/3 Beyond HTTP: TCP/IP and Socket Communications (Mark M.) Handout6 TCP/IP Tutorial TCP/IP IBM Book Lab 5: Beyond HTTP, InterestingLinks_4/3/17 Notes 4/3
4/3 Precept Beyond HTTP: TCP/IP and Socket Communications, Continued (Mark M. Handout6 TCP/IP Tutorial TCP/IP IBM Book Lab 5: Beyond HTTP, Notes 4/3
4/5 Special Seminar: Ben Baldanza, recent CEO, Spirit Airlines Transforming Spirit Airline's Base on Princeton Economic InterestingLinks_4/05/17
4/10 Special Seminar: Adma Jonas , Managing Director, Morgan Stanley Research; "Disruptive Economies" "Driverless Cars Here in 3 Years, Jonas" InterestingLinks_4/10/17
Part III. Operational Considerations and Case Studies
Date Title Reading Notes
4/12 Capacity Analysis Note: Lab 6 capacity Issues Due 4/17 InterestingLinks_4/12, Capacity Notes 4/12
4/17 Internet Pricing Internet Pricing Notes 4/17 InterestingLinks_4/17
4/17 Precept Precept: Independent work on Final Project work on your own... I'll be in my office to answer any questions  
4/19 Special Seminar: Steve Papa'94, Founder and former CEO Endeca "Luck Favors the Prepared", InterestingLinks_4/19
4/24 Special Seminar: Rob Hill'84 President, Americon Consulting "Internet Auctions: Game Theory and (Ir)rational Behavior" Auction Reference Links; Auction-Theory Notes InterestingLinks_4/24/17
4/24 Precept Precept: Review for Exam two-sided 8.5x11 cheat sheet  
4/26 "11th Week Exam" Closed everything; two-sided 8.5x11 cheat sheet InterestingLinks_4/26/17
5/1 Special Seminar: Elizabeth Hamren, VP Marketing, Oculus "Vurtual Reality Today and tomorrow" InterestingLinks_5/01/17
5/3 Special Seminar: Robert Moore'06 , Founder & CEO RJMetrics "Creating an eCommerce company from scratch: An Investor and Entrepreneur's Perspective" InterestingLinks_5/01/17

Standard Reference Textbooks and Readings

  • Chunka Mui & Paul Carroll (2008), The New Killer Apps: How Large Companies Can Out-Innovate Start-Ups,(Broad perspective),

  • Peter Thiel (2014), Zero to One, Crown Business, ISBN 978-0-8041-3929-8,(Broad perspective),

  • Elliot Branson (2015), Uber...,(Broad perspective),

  • Sedgewick, R. and K. Wayne (2006), Intro to Programming in Java, Addison Wesley. (CS 126 text, Online resources,
  • Deitel, P.J.Deitel, H.M., Deitel, A., , & Morgano, M. (2001), Android for Programmers: An App-Driven Approach (Deitel Developer Series), Prentice Hall. ISBN 0132121360,
  • Xamarin mobile app developer center Getting Started Key Introductory Guides to Mobile Development with Xamarin
  • Laudon, K. and C. Traver (2008), E-Commerce: Business, Technology, Society (4th ed.) ISBN: 0-13-600645-0, Prentice Hall (general background reference, fundamental perspective,)
  • Deitel, H.M., Deitel, P.J., & Nieto, T.R. (2001), eBusiness & eCommerce - How to Program, Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-028419-X (A little old but buyable)
  • Deitel, H.M., Deitel, P.J., & Nieto, T.R. (2001), e-Business & e-Commerce How to Program Preface

Additional readings will also be handed-out from time to time. Your are responsible for completing the readings prior to the first day that they will be discussed in class.

Assignments

You must complete the following assignments during the course of the semester:

Description Due Date
Lab 1: Server-Side Processing with HTTP - Part I 2/16
Lab 2: Server-Side Processing with HTTP - Part II 2/23
Lab 3: Client-Side Processing with HTTP - Part I 3/10, This is a HARD deadline
Lab 4: Client-Side Processing with HTTP - Part II Merged with Lab 3 Above
Lab 5: Beyond HTTP 4/9
Lab 6 (PS 1): Capacity: Issues and Analysis 4/16

Final Project

A Final Project Symposium will be held on Friday, May 12 at 9:00am in Room 101 ORFE. Each group has only 20 minutes for their presentation including: setup time (have everything ready), presentation (15 minutes MAX), and discussion (3 minutes). Attendance will be taken. You will need to sign in and out.

The written element of the Final Projects are due the following Monday 5/15.

Virtual investments by the class of 2013 at the beginning in the semester of eCommerce companies was less than spectacular. Class gains were 2.75% while the S&P; gained 4.2% . If everyone would have simply bought the average gain would have been 9.11%! Biggest winners were Kyle O'Donovan and Brian Berkowitz (34.25%, 32.53%). Biggest losers were Chetan Narain and Steve Chen/Dao Mi (-20.96% and -18.21%) Tabulated results.

After the presentations, we will have a class PICNIC on Friday May 6, (4pm-7pm) @ 42 Cleveland Lane. Swimming may be available (if the price of gas is cheap enough to heat the water.). Hopefully at worse we can shoot pool (but I've never played pool before 🙁 ) You are welcome to bring a guest.

Grading

Grades will be based on your performance on problem sets and labs (30%), a "11th week" exam (30%), the final project (30%) and 10% class participation.

Fall 2016/17

ORF 467: Transportation Systems Planning & Analysis

Syllabus
Class: Mon. & Wed. 1:30-2:50pm; 101 Sherrerd Hall (ORFE Building) +
Precepts: Tuesdays 7:30-8:20pm & 8:30-9:20pm; 001 Sherrerd Hall

Course Overview: Studied is the transportation sector of the economy from a systems technology and planning perspective. The focus is on fundamental modeling and analytical methodologies that support:

  • regional, national and international; long and short-range; capital and operational Planning,
  • real-time operational decision making by transportation companies, and
  • the formulation and analysis of long-range innovation and infrastructure investments focused on the transportation sector of the economy

The transportation sector of the economy is one in which a continuing tug-of-war exists between the private sector and the public sector that seeks a balance between private sector market forces and broad oversight and infrastructure investments by the public sector. Shifting priorities focused on stimulating broad economic recovery and job creation provide an opportunity for enhancing mobility through synergistic investments in transportation by both the public and private sectors of the economy. The development of successful innovative investments requires a fundamental, thorough and deep understanding of the demand for mobility by both people and goods as well the physical and operational characteristics of the supply-side technologies.

In the recent past the major issues have been associated with

  • energy: 1/3 of the energy consumed in the US is consumed by the transportation sector. Today, essentially all is carbon based. Concern about global warming, oil spills, $147 a barrel oil, hybrids, Personal Electric Vehicles (PEVs)
  • security: the heightened sensitivity following 9-11 and international terrorism
  • funding: the construction and maintenance of road and public transportation infrastructure has been funded by taxes on gasoline which has plateaued with declining expectations. Can concepts such as "value" (aka congestion) pricing, private toll roads, VMT (vehicle-mile-tax), and for-profit mass transportation pick up the slack?
  • local issues of traffic congestion, road construction, transportation-related environmental issues and the stagnation of transportation funding sources are dominant themes of grass roots planning and policy analysis,
  • Intelligent Transportation Technology (ITS): With roots in Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) beginning more than 40 years ago, computer and information technology has promised that it would revolutionize mass transit and provide unparalleled mobility for all. To date, success has been mixed. PRT never got off the ground, but is still trying. Automated Highway System (AHS) have suffered a similar fate. More modest efforts involving electronic tolling (EZPass, et al), turn-by turn navigation (CoPilot|Live. and others) have become mainstream and once promising V2V and Connected Vehicle initiatives seem to be running out of steam.

New and exciting are systems look to deliver improved mobility through vehicle sharing that augments traditional vehicle ownership and conventional mass transit. This includes the recent surge of bike sharing, car sharing (including personal cars) and mobile app based ride finding systems.

What is HOT is what I have dubbed as "SmartDrivingCars". This term includes partially automated vehicles that simply have Automated Collision Avoidance and Lane Centering Driver Assistance Systems, through Self-Driving to Driverless that can operate completely empty with no human on-board. The vehicles can be cars, buses or trucks; anything that operates on existing streets and highways. The simple collision-avoidance version holds the promise of substantially improving safety and saving money. The driverless version holds the promise of substantially reducing (>50%) energy consumption and pollution, eliminating congestion, providing high-quality demand-responsive mobility to essentially everyone at a very affordable cost without public subsidy. Seems like a winner!!

Complete course description.