Dual Inaugural Lecture: Professor Charisma Choudhury and Professor Zia Wadud

In this dual inaugural lecture, Professors Charisma Choudhury and Zia Wadud will share key insights from their pioneering research and their vision for the future of sustainable transport.

Professors Charisma Choudhury and Zia Wadud of the Institute for Transport Studies will share key insights from their research and offer their vision for the future of sustainable transport. Their unique partnership—both personal and professional—has fostered a collaborative approach that continues to shape innovation in the field.

Next Generation Travel Behaviour Models: Bridging Choice Modelling and Data Science – Professor Charisma Choudhury

Charisma is the Chair in Behaviour Modelling at the Institute for Transport Studies and School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds.

She leads the Choice Modelling Research Group and serves as the Deputy Director of the interdisciplinary Choice Modelling Centre, UoL.

Charisma received her BSc in Civil Engineering from BUET and MSc and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Prior to joining UoL, she has worked at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), MIT, RAND Europe and Cambridge Systematics.

Her research spans leveraging big and passive data (mobile phone records, smart cards, video, physiological sensors, etc.) for travel behaviour modelling, especially in the context of the Global South.

She has been an Alan Turing Fellow and is currently a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow. Charisma is the current Chair of the International Association for Travel Behaviour Research.

Mind the Gap(s)! Transport's Transition to Net Zero – Professor Zia Wadud

Zia is the Professor of Mobility and Energy Futures at the Institute for Transport Studies and School of Chemical and Process Engineering at the University of Leeds.

His research focuses on the interactions between transport, energy, the environment and society in a multidisciplinary setting.

He has worked extensively on topics such as vehicle automation and sharing, electric vehicle adoption, aviation, transport energy poverty, and low-carbon transitions in both developed and developing countries.

Zia has published widely in leading journals, advised governments and international organisations, and contributes actively to debates on the future of sustainable mobility.

He holds degrees from BUET, the University of Melbourne, and Imperial College London, and has held academic and research positions at BUET, Cambridge, MIT and Leeds.

How to attend

Date: Wednesday 22 October 2025

Time: 16:00 – 17:30

Location: Esther Simpson Building room LT1.01

Reception with refreshments at ITS from 17:30

This event is open to everyone, so please do pass on to your networks.

To register your attendance at this lecture, please get your FREE ticket at Ticket Source.