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Dr Hugues Blache

Dr Hugues Blache

Associate Lecturer

  • PhD in Civil Engineering (Transportation and Networks), École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État (ENTPE), France, 2021–2024
  • Master of Science in Civil Engineering (Transportation, Research-Based), Polytechnique Montréal, Canada, 2019–2021
  • Master of Science in Civil Engineering (Transportation, Coursework-Based), École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État (ENTPE), France, 2017–2021
Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering

Dr. Hugues Blache is a Research Associate and Associate Lecturer at the Research Centre for Integrated Transport Innovation (rCITI), School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney.

He holds a Ph.D. from the École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État (ENTPE), France (December 2024), an MSc (research-based) from Polytechnique Montréal (2021), and an MSc (course-based) from ENTPE (2021).

His research spans transport modelling, simulation, and applied data science, with a particular interest in intelligent transport systems and how people and goods move across networks. While his doctoral work focused on validation of automated driving systems, he takes a broad view of mobility, encompassing public and private transport, and the optimisation of transport systems.
E-mail
h.blache@unsw.edu.au
Location
Civil Engineering Building (H20) Level 1, Kensington Campus

My research sits at the intersection of network modelling, Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) and AI/ML-based traffic analysis. My work spans both macroscopic transport network modelling and microscopic, vehicle-level scenario testing, with a particular focus on how these two scales interact to support safer and more efficient transport systems. During my PhD, I developed scenario-based methodologies combining microscopic simulation, machine learning and large-scale traffic data to support the safety validation and certification of CAVs. Since joining rCITI at UNSW, I have extended this work to macroscopic network modelling and transport demand/behaviour analysis, applied to real-world planning challenges in Sydney. Following is a list of some of my ongoing research activities:

  • Scenario-based methodologies for the safety validation and certification of Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs)
  • Behavioural analytics and scenario insights platforms for transport planning and operational decision-making
  • AI/ML-based approaches to large-scale traffic scenario generation and criticality-guided sampling
  • Large-scale metropolitan network modelling for connected transport applications
  • Travel demand and behaviour analysis in response to external shocks

My Teaching

  • CVEN4402 (Transport Networks): Served as the full course convenor, with responsibility for course design and coordination, as well as delivering lectures and workshops on transport network problems, user equilibrium, shortest-path algorithms, and system optimisation.

  • CVEN3401/CVEN3402  (Transport Engineering and Highway Engineering/Environmental Sustainability): Delivered five lectures on the four-step transport modelling process.

  • CVEN9415 (Transport Systems Part 2): Worked as a demonstrator and developed workshops on the use of AI tools for transport data analysis, including GTFS datasets.