Toward Autonomous and Connected Autonomous Vehicle (AV-CAV) Deployment in Saudi Arabia: A Readiness Assessment Based on Expert Feedback

Senior Fellow- Transportation & Infrastructure Ibrahem Shatnawi is a Senior Fellow in the transportation department at KAPSARC with more than 19 years of experience in…

Ibrahem Shatnawi is a Senior Fellow in the transportation department at KAPSARC with more than 19 years of experience in transportation engineering. He is currently leading the development of An Integrated Transport Model for KSA: Modeling Sustainable Pathways in the Transport Sector. His research focuses on transport policies and technologies for decarbonizing road transport and integrated transport demand modeling to estimate energy demand and emissions.

Before joining KAPSARC, Ibrahem gained extensive experience across both public and private sectors. He worked with the Department of Transport in Abu Dhabi, the Road and Transport Authority in Dubai, and renowned consulting firms such as JACOBS, Michael Baker International, and Parsons Corporation. His career has spanned multiple countries, including the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.

Ibrahem’s expertise includes public transportation fare strategies, transport policies, travel demand modeling, transportation economic impact studies, intelligent transportation systems, traffic operations, and microsimulation projects. He has served as a project manager for large-scale transportation studies and authored numerous technical reports.

Ibrahem holds a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering, specializing in transportation, from Jordan University of Science and Technology, and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, specializing in traffic engineering, from the University of Akron, Ohio, U.S.

Expertise

Postdoctoral Researcher- Transportation & Infrastructure Juan Nicolas Gonzalez is a Postdoctoral Researcher at KAPSARC, specializing in sustainable transport and mobility. He holds an M.Sc. in…

Juan Nicolas Gonzalez is a Postdoctoral Researcher at KAPSARC, specializing in sustainable transport and mobility. He holds an M.Sc. in Civil Engineering with a focus on traffic and transportation and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering Systems with a focus on transportation. Prior to joining KAPSARC, he worked as a researcher at the Transportation Research Center (TRANSyT) at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM) and as a Transport Consultant. His contributions span projects on transport policy, parking management, low-emission zones, shared mobility services, and urban logistics. His research interests include transport policy and modeling, data-driven approaches in mobility, the intersection of energy and transport, and sustainable urban mobility solutions.

Expertise

• Transport Policy and Modeling
• Data Science in Transport
• Energy and Transport
• Sustainable Urban Mobility