2024 Graduate Student Showcase

Prateek Gandotra is a student enrolled in the Master of Science in Sustainability Management. He completed his internship with the Canadian Urban Transit Research & Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC), a non-profit organization that works on advancing next-generation zero-carbon mobility and transportation solutions across Canada. Prateek supported CUTRIC’s Membership and Commercialization Program.

Kerstyn Lutz is a Ph.D. candidate at UTM in the Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment, supervised by Professor Matthew Adams. Her research interests broadly focus on examining built environment exposures, as well as their impact on health and equity. Kerstyn's research for the Mobility Network aims to identify populations residing in built environments that do not support active school travel (AST), including walking and wheeling to and from school.

Scarlett Rakowska is a Ph.D. student supervised by Professor Matthew Adams in the Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment at UTM. Her research interests include urban health, greenness, geospatial analysis, and health diseases. Scarlett’s research project for the Mobility Network focuses on associating health diseases with exposure (e.g., air pollution and traffic) and accessibility (e.g., park space and infrastructure) in Toronto neighbourhoods.

Rhonda Solomon is a PhD candidate supervised by Professor Ron Buliung in the Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment and UTM. Her research interests are ableist design and public infrastructure, with a specific focus on public toilet provision for children with disabilities. Rhonda’s research project for the Mobility Network centres on the provision of equitable transit access across diverse disability groups. 

Leila Uy is a M.Sc. student supervised by Professor Jue Wang in the Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment at UTM. Her research interests include exploring the effect of climate change on human mobility, animal welfare, and civil infrastructures. Leila’s research project for the Mobility Network focuses on human mobility after natural disasters in the context of socioeconomic factors. 

Xingyu (Eric) Zhao, a student enrolled in the Master of Urban Innovation. For his internship, he joined the Transportation and Works Department of the City of Mississauga. Eric assisted the Transportation Planner of the Active Transportation team with the implementation phase of the Shared Micro-mobility Program in the city. His main focus was on developing the monitoring and evaluation framework for the upcoming program.

Eric Miller is Director, University of Toronto Mobility Network; Professor, Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering; Research Director, Data Management Group; and Research Director, Travel Modelling Group. His research focuses on the areas of transportation modelling and sustainable urban design. Eric is a pioneer in the development and application of agent-based microsimulation model systems in large urban contexts.

Shauna Brail is Associate Director, UTM, Mobility Network; Associate Professor & Director, Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto Mississauga; and Senior Associate, Innovation Policy Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. As an economic geographer and urban planner, her research focuses on the transformation of cities as a result of economic, social, and cultural change. Brail’s research encompasses studies of broad urban economic challenges and transformations associated with 21st century cities – including the impacts of COVID-19 on cities; the relationship between cities and the digital platform economy, with a particular emphasis on ride-hailing; and shifts in urban governance, policy and planning in connection to innovation and technological change.

Emilia M. Bruck is a Mobility Network Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Management and Innovation (IMI), University of Toronto Mississauga. She is an urban planning researcher whose areas of interest include shifts in urban policy, planning practice and spatial development related to emerging mobility technologies, e.g. automated vehicles. Emilia’s current research focuses on governance innovation related to platform-based mobility services.