People: Students
As part of their work, TPEC researchers guide and mentor graduate students—who then take their degrees and knowledge to the workforce.
To date, 24 students have participated in the program. We're pleased to share updates from some of them below.
| Graduate Students: 2014–2024 | |
|---|---|
| Mattie Anders | Thanks to my TPEC opportunity, I brought strong research skills and critical thinking—as well as so many wonderful connections I made during my time there—to my current position as Sustainability Program Manager at WSB in Minneapolis. TPEC equipped me with real and applicable skills to dive deeper into complex issues at the intersection of safe transportation, sustainable policymaking, economics, and equitable investments. I worked within the Industry Clusters program, studying how the medical device industry clusters in central and greater Minnesota, have contributed to the state's economy and what that means for our transportation systems. The findings of the qualitative and quantitative research I assisted with offered insight into the interdisciplinary nature of transportation and economic development, and the importance of sustainably investing in our infrastructure. |
| Kory Anderson | TPEC expanded my horizons by exposing me to topics such as autonomous vehicles and industry clusters. While I no longer work in research, being aware of these cutting-edge topics helps me consider their implications at the city level. This experience has also equipped me with a forward-thinking mindset essential for strategic urban planning and development. TPEC strengthened my ability to lead stakeholder group discussions and tackle nuanced topics. Additionally, the mentorship I received honed my critical thinking skills, enabling me to approach complex urban issues with a well-rounded perspective. |
| Nathan Bean | My TPEC work was an important opportunity to learn and practice essential skills like coding, data analysis, and project management. I appreciate that my work gave me a lot of freedom to explore new tools and methods that I still use today. I learned a lot from Professor Zhao and my colleagues Camila [Fonseca Sarmiento] and Raihana [Zeerak] at IURIF. They taught me a lot about how to think critically, develop research, and communicate it to stakeholders. I’m better able to put my current work into action because of the time I spent learning from them. |
| Joanne Cho | |
| Audrey Clark | |
| Travis Fried | TPEC helped spark my interest not just in transportation and geographic science, but research at large. In particular, TPEC's ability to communicate Minnesota's transportation needs to a diverse array of public and private sector stakeholders helped shape my own approach to tackling and expressing complicated research questions. For instance, with Lee Munnich and Tom Horan's mentorship, I was able to map the economic landscape of Minnesota's agricultural sector by combining GIS analysis, interviews with local farmers, and an interactive Story Map that helped visually link the research with policies currently underway. |
| Laura Haynssen | |
| Andrew Ingvalson | |
| Haiyue Jiang | |
| Alexander Lee | |
| Dan McNiel | Since leaving TPEC and graduating with a MURP degree, I have worked five years as a community planner and public engagement specialist at SRF Consulting. I supported the TPEC program by conducting community discussions with municipalities throughout the state to better understand how connected and automated vehicles (CAV) technologies present opportunities to improve safety, accessibility, and equity in Greater Minnesota. TPEC provided an important opportunity to communicate with stakeholders, community members, and transportation professionals from across Minnesota. Those experiences, and the relationships I formed through TPEC, continue to support me in my professional career. |
| Joseph Mueller | |
| Kimberly Napoline | My TPEC work contributed to my career path in a couple key ways: One, through my industry clusters research work, I gained a knowledge and passion for supply chain that helped me understand and perform more efficiently at my most recent role (materials & distribution manager at DEXIS, a dental manufacturing company). In addition, my industry clusters research work exposed me to the medical device industry both in Minnesota and nationally/globally, resulting in additional opportunities while in grad school and a desire to work in the med device [industry], which led me to my most recent role in the dental healthcare space. Through my various TPEC research initiatives, I further honed my skills in data analysis and conducting interviews, which taught me how to ask the right questions and arrive at data-informed conclusions—a critical skill in any role that has helped me find success in my career post-TPEC. Lastly, TPEC's emphasis on equity helped me keep this as a lens through which I evaluated and made decisions in my role and for my team that helped me to become a better leader. |
| Kribashini Narayana Moorthy | |
| Ify Onyiah | |
| Spencer Pech | |
| Anthony Schuette | |
| Maya Sheikh | |
| Erika Shepard | My work with TPEC helped me understand the required coordination between local governments, policymakers, academia, stakeholders, and the public to move transportation topics, plans, and projects forward. It was especially interesting to learn through TPEC that progress can happen on many levels, but that policy-level planning is especially effective in making systemic change at the state and metropolitan levels. This likely led to my interest in state and metropolitan planning, which is central to my current role as Metropolitan Planning Program Coordinator in the Office of Transportation System Management at MnDOT. It was extremely helpful to coordinate the TPEC Advisory Board meetings, which allowed me to learn how to effectively connect with important people from various agencies and backgrounds. This has served me well every single day in working and communicating with the MPO directors, federal partners, and planners throughout the state and beyond. |
| Amrutha Shetty | |
| Jem Thompson | |
| Evelyn Weiner | |
| Letian Keira Zheng | |