My research interests are in Urban/Regional Systems and Operations Research, specifically designing and implementing initiatives that support sustainable and resilient communities with a focus on efficiency and social equity issues. 

I am a member of the research faculty at the University of Michigan College of Engineering, affiliated with both the Transportation Research Institute and the Michigan Institute for Data Science. The primary focus of my research activities are mobility issues where I develop and apply hard and soft Operations Research methods in addressing transportation challenges in a manner that emphasizes theory-driven, evidence-based solutions with demonstrable value-added. Prior to joining the research faculty at the University of Michigan, I was a Planning Economist at the African Development Bank (AfDB) and an adjunct Economics faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University, where I received my Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy. I am a member of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies’ Emerging and Innovative Public Transportation and Technology Committee (AP020) and the subcommittee on Equity of Innovative Mobility Systems. I am also a member of the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) America Advisory Committee on Emerging Technologies including the Personal Delivery Devices (PDD) Working Group where I am particularly active. 

In addition to my responsibilities at the University of Michigan, I am involved in activities that promote innovation. These include those that are industry and academic driven or public-private partnerships that foster regional economic competitiveness, and which draw on a myriad of stakeholders. Typically, these activities are pre-competitive, use-inspired and application oriented. On numerous of these innovation activities, I have performed roles including coach, advisor, independent evaluator, entrepreneurial lead, review panel member and as a principal investigator. Programs include the NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps); the NSF Industry University Cooperate Research Centers (IUCRC); the NSF Convergence Accelerator (C-ACCEL) program; and the US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) Investing in Manufacturing Communities partnerships (IMCP) program. An extension to these activities examines how a network representation of the input-output structure of regional economies could be used to obtain insights into their evolution and development.