Dr. B. S. Balla is an interdisciplinary transport researcher specialising in freight transportation planning, urban logistics, human-centric freight systems, and transport modelling. He obtained his PhD from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani (India), and received “Best Thesis Award” from Transportation Research Group of India. He worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Roma Tre University (Italy) and Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur.
Current Position
Jun 2026 to Present: Project Research Scientist, IIT Bombay - FedEx Center for Advanced Logistics and Focused Analytics (IITB-FedEx ALFA)
Teaching Engagement
Jul 2026 to Present: Guest Faculty, Work Integrated Learning Programmes (WILP), Off-campus Programmes, Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, India
Previous Positions
Jan 2026 to Jun 2026: Institute Postdoctoral Fellow, RCG School of Infrastructure Design and Management, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India
Oct 2025 to Dec 2025: Project Research Scientist, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India
Oct 2024 to Sep 2025: Postdoctoral Fellow, Transport Research Lab, Dept. of Political Sciences, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Rome, Italy
Sep 2023 to Sep 2024: Project Engineer, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Hyderabad, India
Doctorate of Philosophy, Birla Institute of Technology & Science Pilani, India, 2024
Thesis: Transferability Approach for Freight Data Measurement and Model Development in Resource-Constrained Regions
Master of Engineering (Infrastructure Engineering), Osmania University, India, 2018
Research Awards
Best Thesis Award, 8th Conference of Transportation Research Group of India - 2025
Best Poster Presentation with cash award, Vidwanostav 2023 (Technical fest for PhD Scholars), Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Hyderabad, India - 2023
Professional & Scholarly Recognition
Best Reviewer - 2023, International Journal of Construction Management - 2024
Young Achiever Alumni Award, CMR College of Engineering & Technology, Hyderabad, India - 2024
Research Travel Grants
International Travel Support, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India - 2024
Academic Awards
Academic Excellence - Bronze Medal with cash award, CMR College of Engineering and Technology - 2016
Academic Excellence - Gold Medal with cash award, CMR College of Engineering and Technology - 2012