Dr. Kohls is a Senior Consultant at ESi specializing in Civil Engineering. He is also a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee Center for Transportation Research (CTR), where he is the director of the Traffic Signal Academy, a continuing education program. Dr. Kohls earned his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, where his research focused on adaptive traffic signal control. He serves as an Adjunct Professor instructing undergraduate and graduate-level courses, including Transportation Engineering I and Traffic Engineering Operations. Dr. Kohls has served as the Principal Investigator for several projects funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Tennessee Department of Transportation. He has collaborated on projects with the U.S. Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Dr. Kohls worked for more than 10 years in Brazil as a Transportation Engineer for the City of Santa Cruz do Sul. He was responsible for the planning, operation, and maintenance of traffic signals, transit and taxi operations, inspection of infrastructure projects, sewage systems, and the construction of schools, sports facilities, and marketplaces for the city. Dr. Kohls worked alongside city council members in developing legislation related to parking requirements, zoning, and historic preservation of buildings.
Dr. Kohls is an accomplished researcher and dedicated professor. He is a leader in the field of traffic signal control continuing education and is listed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Arterial Management Program as a source of training.
Areas of Expertise
Publications
- Adaptive Urban Traffic Signal Control for Multiple Intersections: An LQR Approach, 2022 IEEE 25th International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems, January 2022
- Deploying a Model Predictive Traffic Signal Control Algorithm – A Field Deployment Experiment Case Study, 2022 IEEE 25th International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems, January 2022
- Truck parking Needs in Tennessee, RES 2019-16 Tennessee Department of Transportation, January 2019
- Autonomous Truck Mounted Attenuator (ATMA) Pilot, RES 2019-15 – Tennessee Department of Transportation, January 2019
- TDOT Bicycle & Pedestrian Counting Best Methodologies Assessment, RES 2019-13 - Tennessee Department of Transportation, January 2019
- Signal Phase Timing Impact on Traffic Delay and Queue Length--an Intersection Case Study, Winter Simulation Conference, January 2016
- A Reinforcement Learning Based Multi–agent System for Network Traffic Signal Control, IET Intelligent Transport Systems, Vol. 4, No. 2, March 2016
- Improved Truck Safety at Traffic Signals, NTRCI – National Transportation Research Center Incorporated, June 2009
- Assessing the Impact of Security Measures at Gates of Seaports on Traffic Operations, Southeastern Transportation Center and North Carolina State Ports Authority, July 2008
- Flow Based Adaptive Split Signal Control , PhD dissertation, University of Tennessee, January 2010
See CV for additional publications.