Dr. Young-Ji Byon Founding Director of the Engineering Program

Education:
Ph.D., University of Toronto
MASc, University of Toronto
BASc, University of Toronto

712-707-7072
youngji.byon@nwciowa.edu
SCI 231

A distinguished engineering educator with experience in administration, teaching and research on three continents, Dr. Young-Ji Byon began his role as the founding director of Northwestern College’s B.S. in engineering program in July 2023. He came from Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, a top-100 engineering university, where he was the associate chair of the department of civil infrastructure and environmental engineering. He helped launch Khalifa’s civil engineering programs and led its efforts to secure ABET accreditation.

Dr. Byon earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and master’s and doctoral degrees in civil engineering at the University of Toronto. He completed postdoctoral research at the University of Calgary and the University of Chile. With a research focus of intelligent transportation systems—including connected and autonomous vehicles and deep learning-based traffic control—Dr. Byon has managed grants totaling $2.8 million and published more than 50 articles in internationally recognized journals. He received a faculty excellence award from Khalifa University in 2015 and was recognized in 2017 with a UAE national research award for sustainable transportation.