Dr. Walid Al-Shaar

Dual-PhD researcher and engineer working at the intersection of urban systems, smart mobility, and geospatial intelligence, with academic and professional experience spanning France, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.

Biographical Overview

I am a dual-PhD researcher in Geography (Urban Planning) and Civil Engineering (Transportation), with extensive interdisciplinary academic and professional experience spanning France, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.

My research sits at the intersection of urban systems, new transportation systems (mainly shared autonomous vehicles and Robotaxis), spatial intelligence, and sustainable infrastructure. I specialize in urban growth modeling, land use dynamics, autonomous vehicles, transportation planning, GIS-based spatial analysis, remote sensing, and predictive computational modeling. I apply advanced methodologies including Cellular Automata Markov Chain models, Multi-Layer Perceptron neural networks, deep learning, geographically weighted regression, fractal analysis, and multi-criteria decision analysis to address complex urban and environmental challenges.

I have held academic positions at the American University in Kuwait, Gustave Eiffel University in France, Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, Paris-Saclay University, and Paris-East Créteil University. I have published several peer-reviewed articles in Q1 and Q2 international journals and authored books and book chapters with Elsevier and Springer.

I am also the founder and Director of Novum Research and Innovation Group (NovumRIG), a Beirut-based research organization.

Concurrent Roles

Director

Novum Research and Innovation Group (NovumRIG)
Beirut, Lebanon

Associate Researcher

National Center for Remote Sensing, CNRS Lebanon
Beirut, Lebanon

Lecturer, Geopolitics of Energy

Paris-East Créteil University (UPEC)
Paris, France

Editorial Board Member

PLOS ONE Journal
Peer Review & Scientific Editing

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