Stephen F. Smith
Stephen F. Smith studies planning, scheduling and intelligent coordination. His team’s Surtrac research applies AI and traffic theory to adaptive signal control. By October 2012, Smith’s CMU team had developed Surtrac, which lets signals communicate and adapt collaboratively to changing traffic. The pilot involved nine signal locations in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighbourhood. Surtrac senses traffic, builds a real-time model, plans signal actions and coordinates with nearby intersections. Smith licensed the technology through Rapid Flow Technologies. His research covers planning and scheduling, mixed-initiative problem solving, constraint-based optimization, machine learning and evolutionary computation. His intelligent-systems work includes applications in manufacturing, transportation and space.
- Works
- 354
- Citations
- 7,988
- h-index
- 49
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 14 October 2026.
Timeline
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2012
Adaptive traffic signals
By October 2012, Smith’s CMU team had developed Surtrac, which lets signals communicate and adapt collaboratively to changing traffic. The pilot involved nine signal locations in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighbourhood.
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2019
From models to coordinated control
Surtrac senses traffic, builds a real-time model, plans signal actions and coordinates with nearby intersections. Smith licensed the technology through Rapid Flow Technologies.
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As of October 2026
Planning and scheduling research
His research covers planning and scheduling, mixed-initiative problem solving, constraint-based optimization, machine learning and evolutionary computation. His intelligent-systems work includes applications in manufacturing, transportation and space.
Sources and credits
Photo: ri.cmu.edu; Stephen Smith - The Robotics Institute - CMU; creator not stated. License: Not stated by source. Source: ri.cmu.edu. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.