Postdoc
Dr. Diyi Liu (diyi.liu@gwu.edu)
Diyi joined the SUM lab as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Fall 2024, after completing his Ph.D. in Traffic Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Diyi’s research focuses on data-driven analysis across various transportation engineering topics. His research interests include developing simulation models and analytical pipelines to enhance the understanding and optimization of transportation systems. Diyi earned his Bachelor’s degree in Transportation Engineering from Southeast University, China.
PhD
Linxuan Shi (shilx@gwu.edu)
Linxuan joined the SUM Lab in 2021 and is now a Ph.D. candidate. He received a B.Eng. in Highway and Bridge Engineering from Southeast University, China in 2017 and an M.S. of Operations Research from Columbia University in 2019. He is currently working on models to imagine the operations and understand the implications of low-capacity autonomous delivery means for last-mile home delivery. He is enthusiastic about solving real-world problems and improving travel experience in cities.
Master’s
Julian Abeledo
Julian is a masters student with the SUM Lab, having joined in Fall 2024 after completing a B.S. in Civil Engineering at GWU in May. As a lifelong Washingtonian and user of the city’s public transit systems, Julian is interested in the planning and operation of multimodal and sustainable transportation systems. He has previously interned at WMATA, working on the Bladensburg Bus Garage and Northern Bus Garage reconstruction projects. He is currently an FHWA Dwight D. Eisenhower Transportation Fellow, working on demand prediction and rebalancing problems for bikesharing systems with both electric and regular bikes. Additionally, he is doing work on travel time prediction for urban courier services. In his free time, Julian is active in DC’s Latino community, helping Spanish-monolingual tenants better understand and exercise their rights under the law to fight for better housing conditions.
Bhagyashree Panda (M.Sc., 08/2023)
Bhagyashree obtained her master of science in the Summer of 2023 with her thesis titled “Towards Equitable Electric Vehicle (EV) Adoption: A Structural Framework and Empirical Analysis”. She was the recipient of the SEAS Dean’s Scholarship Award, CEE Graduate Fellowship and Assistantship, 2022 Women’s Transportation Seminar DC Chapter (WTS-DC) Graduate Scholarship, and served as the founding President of the GWU-ITE student chapter. Before pursuing her master’s degree, Bhagyashree accumulated a wealth of experience as an Assistant Professor in the School of Civil Engineering at KIIT University, India. Bhagyashree’s unwavering passion for transportation equity and policy serves as her driving force, and her ultimate goal is to contribute to the realization of accessible and affordable transportation for all. Following her thesis research, Bhagyashree now works at HDR as a transportation planner on policies related to EVs and CAVs.
Undergraduate & K-12 Students
Joseph Tso
Joseph is a sophomore at Woodson High School and has a great interest in topics relevant to transportation, automation, and sustainability. He was leading the development of a simulation platform for the curb system in the Penn Quarter/Chinatown area during the academic year of 2022-2023. The platform simulates the interaction among merchants/residentials, curb parking spaces, and deliverers for package pickup/drop-offs. He enjoys playing golf and trombone and works for his school’s robotics team in his free time.
Quinn Mores
Quinn is a junior at School Without Walls High School, and has interests in STEM subjects, primarily engineering. Quinn is the Junior captain of his school’s robotics team, in which he assists in many of the engineering processes. During his internship in the SUM Lab in Fall 2022, Quinn surveyed the literature related to the equity issues surrounding the adoption of electric vehicles. His report looked into a few potential solutions that were brought up in a multitude of scientific papers, articles, and news reports to find out what options may be best to solve these issues. [PDF] [Slides]
Derek T. Emons
Derek is a junior at School Without Walls High School, and is primarily interested in STEM. Derek hopes to explore the applications of computer science and coding in different STEM fields, such as civil engineering. Through a Spring 2023 internship at the SUM Lab, Derek was able to achieve this goal by visualizing a concept he created in December 2020, using the Anaconda Distribution for Python coding. The final product created was an optimized map detailing the distribution of free lunches to the District of Columbia Public Schools from a selected cohort of DC-area food banks. [PDF] [Slides]