Andrew J. Park, PhD

Associate Professor of Mathematical Sciences; Coordinator, Computing
I hold a PhD in Interactive Arts and Technology with my research on fear of crime using simulations and virtual environments. I had postdoctoral positions in the research group of Modelling of Complex Social Systems and at the Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies.

Dr. Park’s research program focuses on developing interactive data analytics and visual analytics to investigate social problems including crimes, fear/perception of crime, cyber security, public safety, crowd control, fire egress, and terrorism. His research utilizes interactive two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) visualization techniques to discover patterns and trends of both physical and cybercrimes and simulate behaviours of criminals, crowd, old people, police, and terrorists in realistic 3D virtual environments for devising strategies and tactics. Many of his research projects deal with big data (crime data, Darkweb forum data, AIS data, etc.) and analyze/visualize them using state-of-art techniques (AI/machine learning, Social Network Analysis, Visual Analytics, etc.).

TWU Computing Science

  • PhD Interactive Arts and Technology (Simon Fraser University; 2008)
  • MSc Computer Science (Loyola University Chicago; 1998)
  • BSc Mathematics (Sogang University Seoul; 1993)
  • BSc Physics (Sogang University Seoul; 1991)

Expertise

Interactive Information Visualization and Visual Analytics on Big Data; Virtual Environments for Social Science Research (Criminology and Gerontology); Human-Computer Interaction for Virtual Environments; Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation for Counter-Terrorism, Crowd Control, and Fire Egress; Social Network Analysis and Visualization (AIS and Darkweb); Computational Criminology (Fear of Crime and CPTED)

Funded Research (Selected)

  • Title: Developing an Interactive Framework and Crime Analytics for Public Safety Using the City of Vancouver as a Model - Funding: Insight Development Grant - Period: 2019-2022 - Role: Principal Investigator
  • Title: Detecting Vulnerable Areas against Terrorists' Attacks - Funding: Mitacs Globalink Internship Program - Period: Summer 2019 - Role: Supervisor
  • Title: Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation of Police Strategy for Crowd Control - Funding: Mitacs Globalink Internship Program - Period: Summer 2016 - Role: Supervisor
  • Title: Management Tool for Major Crowd Disruptions Resulting from Terrorist Acts Using a Virtual Environment Model. - Funding: TSAS (Terrorism, Security, and Society) Research Grant - Period: 2013-2014 - Role: Co-Investigator

Awards & Honors

  • Research Training Recognition Fund (Thompson Rivers University; 2019)
  • Research Training Recognition Fund (Thompson Rivers University; 2018)
  • TRU World Internal Fund (Thompson Rivers University; 2015) - paid directly to my research assistant
  • TRU World Internal Research Fund (Thompson Rivers University; 2014)
  • Internal Research Fund Grant (Thompson Rivers University; 2013-2014)
  • Research Enhancement Fund (Thompson Rivers University; 2011-2012)
  • MITACS-Accelerate Stipend (Simon Fraser University; 2010-2011)
  • President’s PhD Research Stipends (Simon Fraser University; 2006)
  • Faculty of Applied Sciences Graduate Fellowship (Simon Fraser University; 2005)
  • Graduate Fellowship (Simon Fraser University; 2004 & 2006)

Recent Publications

Selected Publications

  • R. McBride, V. Nguyen, V. Spicer, J. Song, A. J. Park, and H. H. Tsang, "Investigating Historical Crime Importance in Vancouver via Temporal-Spatial Crime Pattern Theory", in 2021 Proceedings of the Future Technologies Conference (FTC), Virtual (2021)
  • R. Ficocelli, A. Park, L. Patterson, F. Doditch, V. Spicer, J. Song, and H. H. Tsang, "Voice Command Based Crowd Control Training System with Various Police Formations", in 2021 Proceedings of the Future Technologies Conference (FTC), Virtual (2021).
  • A. J. Park and S. Z. Stamato, “Social Network Analysis of Global Transshipment: A Framework for Discovering Illegal Fishing Networks.” International Symposium on Foundations of Open Source Intelligence and Security Informatics 2020, Virtual (2020).
  • S. Stamato and A. J. Park, “Static and Dynamic Social Network Models for the Analysis of Transshipment in Illegal Fishing.” GTA 4.0: The 4th Workshop on Graph Techniques for Adversarial Activity Analytics, Virtual (2020).
  • A. J. Park, R. Ficocelli, L. D. Patterson, V. Spicer, H. H. Tsang “Testing Various Riot Control Police Formations through Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation.” IEEE Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference 2020, Virtual (2020).
  • R. Ficocelli, A. J. Park, L. D. Patterson, V. Spicer, and H. H. Tsang, F. Dodich, “Crowd Management of Honda Celebration of Light Using Agent-Based Modelling and Simulation.”  Future Technologies 2020, Vancouver, BC (2020).
  • A. J. Park, R. Ficocelli, L. D. Patterson, V. Spicer, H. H. Tsang, and J. Song, “Devising and Optimizing Crowd Control Strategies Using Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation.”  IEEE European Intelligence and Security Informatics 2019, Oulu, Finland (2019).
  • A. J. Park and K. Vedantham. “Detecting Possible Lone Wolf Terrorist's Locations.” IEEE Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference 2019, Vancouver, BC (2019).
  • A. J. Park, R. Ficocelli, G. Han, H. H. Tsang, V. Spicer, and E. Hwang. “Agent-Based Behavioral Model and Simulation of Fire Egress.” IEEE Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference 2019, Vancouver, BC (2019).
  • A. J. Park, K. Behiels, V. Spicer, J. Song, and H. H. H. Tsang. “Discovering Crime Trends and Patterns Using Three-Dimensional Visual Analytics.” IEEE Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference 2019, Vancouver, BC (2019).
  • J. Song, V. Spicer, A. J. Park, H. H. Tsang, and P. L. Brantingham. “Computational Method for Identifying the Boundaries of Crime with Street Profile and Discrete Calculus.” International Symposium on Foundations of Open Source Intelligence and Security Informatics 2019, Vancouver, Canada (2019).

Affiliations & Memberships

  • National member of International CyberCrime Research Centre
  • Senior Research Affiliate of TSAS (Terrorism, Security, and Society)
  • Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

  • CMPT 166 Introduction to Computing Science and Programming II
  • CMPT 231 Data Structures and Algorithms
  • CMPT 401 Special Topics: Virtual Reality