PEOPLE
| Faculty |
 Prof. Joseph M. SussmanJR East Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Systems, Emeritus |
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Former Graduate Students |
 Joanna MoodyJoanna completed her Master of Science in Transportation degree with the R/HSR Group in 2016. Her research focused on understanding high-speed rail projects as complex socio-technical systems, with a particular interest in how the technology and infrastructure interface with governing and managing institutions and users. Her master's thesis entitled "Development of a Predictive Coalition Building Analysis for Stakeholders of Sociotechincal Systems" was awarded the Council for University Transportation Centers (CUTC) Charley V. Wootan Memorial Award for outstanding Masters Thesis in Planning and Policy. Joanna also received a USDOT University Transportation Center Fellowship (2014) and Eisenhower Graduate Fellowships (2015, 2016) from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Joanna holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics, Physics, and Japanese from Bates College (2014) Joanna went on to complete her Ph.D. in Transportation with the JTL Urban Mobility Lab at MIT. Her dissertation explored how the attribution of social status and personal image to owning and using a car ('car pride') influences individual travel behavior in cities and countries around the world. Email: jcmoody@mit.edu |
 Scott Middleton Now a planning and research analyst at EDR Group in Boston, Scott received his Master of Science in Transportation and Master in City Planning degrees in 2018. Originally from Plainville, Connecticut, Scott studied history and urban studies at Brown University, where he wrote his senior thesis on the impacts of deindustrialization in Southern New England. Before coming to MIT, Scott worked as a community planner at the USDOT’s Volpe Center in Cambridge, MA. His work at the DOT focused on a range of transportation topics, including highway safety, environmental streamlining, and transit operations. Scott’s current research interests include high-speed rail and the environmental impacts of passenger and freight transportation. Outside of academics, Scott is an avid cyclist, a mediocre runner, and a passionate traveler. |
 Rakesh SridharRakesh, a dual-degree candidate for the Master of Science in Technology and Policy and Masters of Science in Transportation hails from Chennai, India. While a research assistant in the R/HSR Group, Rakesh applied the CLIOS Process to better understand the Transportation System of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. He has a Bachelor of Technology degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras. After graduating in 2012, Rakesh worked with Honda R&D in Japan as an automobile engineer. At MIT, his research focuses on the economic implications of HSR systems. He is particularly interested in the economic analysis of an HSR system in Abu Dhabi (UAE). |
 Takafumi Hidema (Taka) Takafumi (Taka) completed a Master’s in Technology and Policy in 2017. He has a B.E. in Aeronautics and Astronautics, and also a M.S. in Advanced Energy from The University of Tokyo. Since graduating, Taka has worked at the Central Japan Railway Company in the Human Resource Management Section of Transportation and Marketing Department, Shinkansen Operations Division. At MIT, his research focuses on optimization and performance measurement of HSR systems. He is particularly interested in an intra/intermodal transportation network in the U.S. Email: thidema@mit.edu |
 Daniel MascoopDaniel completed the Master of City Planning degree in 2017. He holds undergraduate degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering and in Urban Planning also from MIT (2016). He is interested in how a region's transportation system influences and is influenced by regional institutions and urban environments and in improving these relationships. Although he is a proud Bostonian, he has met his desire to learn about other places and cultures (and be productive while doing so) by pursuing internships abroad, recently in Recife, Brazil, Germany and Singapore. He is passionate about environmental issues and was active in climate action groups at MIT as well as homelessness advocacy. Email: leinad12@mit.edu |
 Rebecca J. HeywoodRebecca completed a dual degree in the Master of Science in Transportation and Master of City Planning programs in 2016. She has a B.S. in Civil Engineering with a concentration in urban planning from MIT. Her research focused on regional transportation governance in the New York Metropolitan Area given the potential future of high-speed rail in the Northeast Corridor. Having worked around the world, including New York City, Germany, Brazil and India, she is particularly interested in the impact of transportation systems on local social and economic opportunity. Rebecca is now at the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) as a Transit Policy Advisor. Email: rheywood@alum.mit.edu |
 Patton DoylePatton received the Master of Science in Transportation degree from MIT in 2016. Growing up near auto-centric Detroit, Patton is driven to provide better public transportation in his home state and around the country. Patton received his undergraduate degree in Physics from the University of Michigan graduating Phi Beta Kappa. During his time at Michigan, the Physics Department awarded him the Cornwell Prize for intellectual curiosity and pursuit of original research. He has worked with Union Pacific Railroad to improve intermodal container security and with the Ford Motor Company to design new mobility solutions. During summer 2015, Patton worked with the US DOT Volpe Center to support the federal rulemaking for transportation performance management. As a research assistant in the MIT Regional Transportation Planning and High-Speed Rail Group, Patton worked with the East Japan Railway to analyze high-speed rail opportunities in the United States and across the globe. Email: doylep@alum.mit.edu |
 Tatsuya DoiTatsuya (Tatsu) completed his Master of Science in Engineering Systems degree at MIT in 2016 and has returned to work as a high-speed railway engineer for Central Japan Railway Company. He has most recently been working on operation and maintenance of the SC-MAGLEV (Super-Conducting MAGnetic LEVitation) project field-testing. He has both a Bachelors and a Masters degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Tokyo. At MIT, his research focused on the integration and optimization of multiple (technical) subsystems within a larger, complex socio-technical system: finding integration and interdependence on various lifecycle properties (e.g. safety, profitability, availability, reliability) in high speed rail operation. Email: doi@alum.mit.edu |
 Ryota Yasutomi (Tommy)Tommy completed his Master of Science in Transportation degree in 2016. From Japan, Tommy has both a bachelor's and a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Kyoto University. As a transportation planner at Central Japan Railway Company, he has been working on transportation demand analysis, frequency/capacity design, and development of long-term investment plans. At MIT, his research focused on pricing and schedule planning strategy for high-speed railways. Email: yasutomi@alum.mit.edu |
 Maite Peña-Alcaraz, Ph.D. Engineering SystemsMaite completed her Ph.D. degree in Engineering Systems in 2015. Maite has worked as a consultant for the World Bank Group's Transport & ICT Global Practice and now works as an Associate at McKinsey & Company. Originally from Spain, Maite's area of interest is strategic planning of complex socio-technical systems such as transportation systems. In particular, her research interests concern capacity planning in shared railway corridors at the intersection of the decision making under uncertainty, the industrial organization and the public policy fields. Email: maitepa@alum.mit.edu |
 Bruno Agosta, M.S.T '15 Bruno is a Civil Engineer from the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA). Upon his undergraduate graduation in 2008, he received the Medalla de Oro, the university’s highest award for graduating students and was the valedictorian with the highest GDP among graduating civil engineers by the Civil Engineers Professional Council of Argentina (CPIC). Before join gin MIT, Bruno led logistics and transportation infrastructure projects in Europe and Latin America, and since 2011 has been part of the engineering company AC&A. In 2013, Bruno was awarded the Fulbright-BEC.AR Fellowship, the Organization of American State (OAS) Scholarship representing Argentina and the International Road Federation Fellowship, to study for a masters degree in the United States at MIT. and also earned the Organization of American State (OAS) Scholarship representing Argentina. Bruno is currently Director of Engineering Projects and international development in AC&A (www.acyglobal.com). Email: bagosta@alum.mit.edu |
 Samuel Levy, M.S.T '15 Sam completed the Master of Science in Transportation (M.S.T.) program in 2015. Hailing from Redwood City (San Francisco), California, he earned his bachelor of science in civil engineering with a minor in economics from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. He has spent his college summers working for a rail/transit engineering consultant, for a public transportation agency, and for a highway construction contractor as a field engineer and occasional carpenter. He is interested in the interaction between regional and local transportation networks. Email: samlevy@mit.edu |
 Tolu Ogunbekun, M.Eng. in Transportation '15 Tolu returned to Steer Davies Gleave in Boston after completing her Master of Engineering in Transportation degree at MIT. At SDG, she continues to lead the analysis and model development on high-speed and intercity passenger rail demand forecasting studies across the U.S. Prior to MIT, Tolu worked as a transportation consultant at SDG for four years. She enjoys analyzing complex data to address challenging problems. She is particularly interested in how innovations and changes in technology, planning and management in urban areas impact the transportation system and mobility choices. She hopes to be a part of advances in intercity rail in the U.S. and her home country, Nigeria. Email: togunbek@alum.mit.edu |
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Former Undergraduate Students (UROPs) |
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Visiting Students and Scholars |
Former Visiting Students:
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Former Visiting Scholars:
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HSR/R Group 2014-2015
Back row (from left): Tolu Ogunbekun, Joanna Moody, Ryota (Tommy) Yasutomi, Bruno Agosta, Sam Levy, Patton Doyle, Rebecca Heywood, Dagin Faulkner, and Joseph Sussman
Front row (from left): Tatsuya (Tatsu) Doi, Ryan Allard, Yufei Cao (Administrative Assistant), and Maite Peña-Alcaraz
HSR/R Group 2013-2014
Upper row (from left): Bruno Agosta, Andrés Archila, S. Joel Carlson, Iori Mori, Sam Levy, and Joseph Sussman
Lower row: Rebecca Heywood, Aleksandr Prodan, Soshi Kawakami, Ryan Westrom, and Maite Peñ
HSR/R Group 2012-2013 (MIT faculty and graduate students)
Upper row (from left): Iori Mori, Ryan Westrom, Joseph Sussman, and Andrés Archila
Lower row: Naomi Stein, Soshi Kawakami, Joel Carlson, and Maite Peña
Photo: Andrés Archila
