Joseph Ferreira, Jr.

Professor of Urban Planning and Operations Research

Head of the Planning Support Systems Group and Founding Director of the Planning Department's Computer Resource Lab. Prof. Ferreira's undergraduate degree and PhD are from MIT (in electrical engineering and operations research). He teaches analytical methods and computer-based modeling for planning and urban management and his research involves interactive spatial analysis tools and geographic information systems for land use planning, urban modeling, and risk management. Prof. Ferreira has been active in a number of professional organizations concerned with GIS and urban planning uses of computing. Recently, he was President of URISA, the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association - an interdisciplinary profesional organization that is especially concerned with the management of spatial information. He is also the principal investigator of several research projects involving the development of a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) including the MIT Digital Orthophoto Browser project that is accessible at http://ortho.mit.edu/nsdi.