Wee Ping Koh

I am the Deputy Chief Specialist (Traffic Engineering) in the Road and Traffic Specialist Subgroup, under the Transportation Technology Group in LTA. My domain lies in the areas of traffic modelling, traffic data analysis and demand management. I collaborate with operational divisions on domain-related engineering matters, including traffic data-driven analysis, development of microscopic traffic models to facilitate engineering solutions and assessments, as well as congestion pricing as a traffic demand management tool. I also contribute to technical and project working committees on several traffic technology projects, conduct applied research to help address traffic engineering questions, and publish scientific papers based on these research.

My experience at ITS has helped in my job and career tremendously. Besides equipping me with the necessary fundamental theories underlying the traffic engineering approaches, the critical thinking required for all our coursework helped shape my academic thinking and continuously motivates me to be hungry for knowledge in all areas of my work. Though I have always been interested in analytical work, this experience has further pushed me to delve deeper into my research analysis, and wondrously expanded my horizons to potential new research angles and methodologies.

The Institute of Transport Studies at the University of Leeds has a long and rich history in transport research. Lecturers are well known across the Transport Industry for their innovative studies and their names can be found in several published papers within top journals and international conference proceedings. I also read that Leeds Uni is ranked very high in student satisfaction within the UK University rankings, and discovered for myself during my year here the reasons why! I had actually received offers from both Imperial College and University of Leeds to do a Transport Masters, and have been very glad I chose Leeds as it has given me a warm, wonderful and rewarding educational experience.

My advice for students interested in this course and a career in transport is, Go for it! If you are serious about transport (be it the policies, the design, the environmental or the mathematical aspects etc of transport) and wish to delve thoroughly into what makes it work and what doesn’t, and if you wish to be taught by lecturers who are passionate about their work and be sought after by transport companies after your studies, then take up one of the Masters in Transport program at Institute for Transport Studies.

My advice to international students is that Europe is one of the best places to work in Transport as it has so much to teach us. Choose your 2nd term’s modules carefully, taking into consideration your passion and the skills that are needed in the transport industry.

The highlight of my career so far is being able to apply the critical thinking competency and statistical concepts I learnt from ITS into my first scientific paper in public transport data analysis, and to be able to present this paper at an upcoming Transport conference in Europe. Thanks to the dedication and guidance from the ITS lecturers during my Masters education, I am also really honoured to be the winner of the AECOM Prize for the best MSc (Eng) Transport Planning and Engineering student 2017 during my time at ITS.