Pengyuan (Kevin) Sun started his career as a research assistant professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in August 2024. He is part of the UT-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute’s Energy Storage and Transportation convergent research initiative.

Sun received his doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from the University of California, Irvine in July 2024. His research focuses on transportation system engineering and analysis, particularly with connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) for advanced traffic intersection and network informatics. He is interested in vehicle control approaches and designing eco-driving algorithms, with the aim of reducing energy consumption and travel delays.

Sun has contributed to several peer-reviewed journal and conference papers on eco-driving algorithms and CAV control methods and has participated in research projects related to traffic data analysis, vehicle behavior optimization, and transportation network simulations. He also serves as a reviewer for journals and conferences, such as the annual meetings of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), the Journal of Transportation Research Record, the Scientific Report, and the International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology.