SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) Associate Professor of Geotechnical Engineering and Transportation Geotechnics, Dr. Asif Ahmed, and SUNY Poly student Sumanth Bandi recently presented two research papers at the prestigious annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board, hosted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The internationally recognized conference attracted more than 10,000 attendees from academia, industry, and government agencies.

The first paper, “Advancing Subgrade Temperature Prediction Through Machine Learning-Based Tool Development,” introduced an interactive, machine learning–based tool that uses real-time atmospheric data to predict subgrade soil temperatures. This tool has the potential to assist highway agencies in assessing roadway infrastructure conditions and addressing performance issues in real time.

The second paper, “Harnessing Social Media Data for Natural Disaster Information: A Case Study on Hurricane and Wildfire Posts on Reddit,” explored how community-based social media platforms can be leveraged to identify and analyze natural disasters. The study demonstrated how Reddit data can help capture public perception and experiences during events such as hurricanes and wildfires, supporting more informed and responsive decision-making during disaster management efforts.