Biography
Dr. Cafer Avci is a research associate and lecturer in the Systems Engineering Program at Cornell University. He holds a Ph.D. in computer engineering and brings together experience in academic research, engineering education, software and platform development, entrepreneurship, and the automotive industry. His work is driven by translating emerging computational technologies into practical solutions for complex engineering and societal challenges.
At Cornell, Dr. Avci leads the development of the uTECH ecosystem, a modular platform supporting interdisciplinary work across urban technology, mobility, the environment, community well-being, and public health. He collaborates with faculty, students, public agencies, and external partners to develop research initiatives, computational platforms, and deployable engineering solutions. He also teaches and mentors undergraduate and graduate students through coursework, independent research, and systems engineering design projects.
Before joining Cornell, Dr. Avci completed three years of postdoctoral research at Aalto University in Finland. He also gained automotive industry experience in Sweden, contributing to autonomous-driving and shuttles research and development. In addition, he has participated in multiple entrepreneurial and start-up initiatives focused on transforming research ideas and emerging technologies into applied products, services, and scalable platforms. His international experience across computer engineering, transportation research, technology development, and entrepreneurs
Research Interests
Dr. Avci’s research focuses on developing intelligent, scalable, and simulation-driven approaches for understanding and improving complex urban and transportation systems. His work combines artificial intelligence, computational modeling, and systems engineering to support better mobility, safer automation, more sustainable cities, and health-conscious decision-making. His main research areas include:
- AI-enabled engineering systems; generative AI, agentic AI, machine learning, retrieval-augmented generation, and intelligent decision-support tools
- Urban mobility and travel behavior; AI-driven activity-based travel-demand modeling, agent-based simulation, traffic modeling, and large-scale mobility analytics
- Connected and autonomous transportation; automated vehicles, cooperative mobility, vehicle-control methods, intelligent routing, and simulation-based system evaluation
- Digital twins and computational platforms; cloud-based simulation, scalable modeling frameworks, modular system architectures, parallel computing, and integrated digital environments
- Sustainable and healthy cities; transportation emissions, environmental impacts, sustainable mobility, health-aware routing, and the integration of mobility, environmental, and public-health analytics
Teaching Interests
Dr. Avci’s teaching interests include generative artificial intelligence, digital systems modeling, systems engineering design, computational modeling, simulation, and project-based engineering education.
At Cornell, he teaches SYSEN 5530: Digital Systems Modeling with Generative AI and contributes to College with design and project courses at graduate and undergraduate levels, including SYSEN 5900: Systems Engineering Design Project, CS 4999 Independent Reading & Research, CS 5999 Master of Engineering Project. His teaching emphasizes hands-on learning and the application of AI, systems modeling, simulation, software development, and model-based systems engineering to interdisciplinary, real-world challenges.