News Archives - The Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Irvine

The Institute of Transportation Studies, Irvine is proud to spotlight former student researcher, Dylan Ando for his contributions to the Transportation Research Immersion Program (TRIP) and his dedication to advancing the transportation systems of tomorrow.

Dylan began his journey at UC Irvine where he served as President of the Urban Studies Student Association. While helping other students explore the field of urban planning and policy, Dylan earned his B.A. in Urban Studies with a GIS specialization and a minor in Statistics. As an undergraduate, Dylan held internships at the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), Jamboree Housing Corporation, and the Institute of Transportation Studies TRIP Program where his passion for transit blossomed.

“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a planner—let alone a transportation planner—before joining TRIP. Being able to talk about my project with professors after just one summer was a turning point for me.”

During his summer spent with the TRIP program, Dylan researched transportation network companies and equity in public transportation alongside Professor R. (Jay) Jayakrishnan and graduate student Negin Shariat. At the conclusion of the TRIP program, Dylan continued his research, presenting his findings to the Transportation Research Board and the SCAG Student Showcase where he was awarded the 2023 Storymap Jury Award.

“Microtransit was a niche topic I hadn’t expected to be passionate about, but it aligned with everything I cared about: equity, access, and impact.”

After completing the TRIP program and his degree, Dylan received the Dean’s Scholar Award, the Outstanding Urban Studies Student Award, the Outstanding Contribution to the School of Social Ecology Award, the Outstanding Contribution to the Community, and a full-ride scholarship to USC.

Today, Dylan is working towards a Masters of Urban Planning (MUP) at USC with a concentration in transportation and mobility while interning at Fehr & Peers.

“USC’s program is focused on application and skill-building, which is what I was craving after undergrad. My internships helped me learn the job without committing long-term. It’s a great way to grow quickly and get exposure to the field.”

For Dylan, leaving a lasting impact on the world of transportation began with asking questions and seeking out mentorship. Transportation can pave the way towards a more equitable and sustainable future if you’re curious enough to question the built environment around you.

“Even if you feel out of place, ask questions. Everyone starts somewhere—support and curiosity go a long way.”

Author Erin Boshers is a recent graduate of Urban Studies and Literary Journalism at UC Irvine. She has conducted transportation and housing research through roles at Caltrans, the Kennedy Commission, Jamboree Housing, and the Institute of Transportation Studies.

Each summer, the ITS-Irvine Transportation Research Immersion Program (TRIP) and the Pre-college Research Immersion Program pairs undergraduate and high school student researchers with faculty to contribute meaningfully to ongoing transportation research projects. To learn more about these programs, contact ITS-Irvine Assistant Director for Programs and Engagement Dr. Victoria Deguzman at vvdeguzm@uci.edu.

The Institute of Transportation Studies would like to congratulate Dr. Michael Hyland on his recent promotion to Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Samueli School of Engineering, UC Irvine.

During his time at UC Irvine, Dr. Hyland has dedicated his research to developing smarter, more sustainable transportation systems with a focus on microtransit, bikesharing, ridesharing, and driverless vehicles. This summer, Dr. Hyland has worked closely with graduate students, undergraduates, and high school students modeling human unreliability in microtransit services and quantifying accessibility benefits from small-scale mobility investments for the Institute of Transportation Studies’ TRIP program. As an Associate Professor, Dr. Hyland intends to continue his research towards improving the future of transportation.

“I’m looking forward to the added job security and the opportunity to take a step back and determine where I want to focus my scholarly efforts over the next 5+ years.”

The Institute of Transportation Studies, Irvine is proud to spotlight faculty researcher Dr. Jacqueline Huynh for her contributions to the Transportation Research Immersion Program (TRIP) and her dedication to advancing the future of aviation.

Dr. Huynh began her academic career studying Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering in addition to Mechanical Engineering at UC Irvine. As an undergraduate, Dr. Huynh did not originally intend to further her studies beyond a Bachelor’s degree. After immersing herself in various design projects, however, her interest in research ignited. Following her graduation in 2014, Dr. Huynh went on to earn her Masters (2017) and PhD (2020) at MIT in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. Dr. Huynh returned to UC Irvine to expand sustainable aviation as an Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

“I really wanted to come back to UC Irvine… because it gave me so much and I really wanted to give back.”

Following her return to UC Irvine, Dr. Huynh has focused her research on designing the aircraft systems of tomorrow, reducing aviation’s environmental impacts in the process. By furthering technologies such as hydrogen and electrified propulsion, Dr. Huynh’s work mitigates aircraft noise and emissions negatively impacting overtly exposed communities.

“We’ve proven… there are many opportunities for us to make these sectors more sustainable. It’s up to us—the Institute—to figure out what those solutions are.”

When Dr. Huynh isn’t figuring out solutions, she’s mentoring the next generation of transportation leaders. As an ITS associate, and as a faculty advisor in the Pre-college Research Immersion and Transportation Research Immersion Programs (PRIME and TRIP), Dr. Huynh leads a team of high school and undergraduate students on community-focused research projects. This summer, Dr. Huynh and her team are developing sustainable flight operations for advanced air mobility with communities at the center. While the work Dr. Huynh and her team are conducting is complex, students of all levels have an opportunity to contribute through the TRIP and PRIME programs.

“You don’t need to be an expert to start doing real research. If you don’t know something, you can learn and figure it out. That’s part of what research is… Students go from having just taken a coding class… to simulating aircraft flying over cities and modeling flight paths.”

Dr. Huynh strongly encourages students with a future in transportation to actively question the world around them, considering the different shapes of a more sustainable future.

“My hope is a transportation system that supports global growth while minimizing negative impacts to human health.”

You can read more about Dr. Huynh’s research here.

Author Erin Boshers is a recent graduate of Urban Studies and Literary Journalism at UC Irvine, where she explored the intersection of infrastructure, social behaviors, and public policy. She has conducted transportation and housing research through roles at Caltrans, the Kennedy Commission, Jamboree Housing, and the Institute of Transportation Studies.

Each summer, the ITS-Irvine Transportation Research Immersion Program (TRIP) pairs undergraduate student researchers with faculty in paid positions to contribute meaningfully to ongoing transportation research projects, and the Pre-college Research Immersion Program pairs high school student researchers with faculty in unpaid positions to similarly contribute to these projects. To learn more about these programs, contact ITS-Irvine Assistant Director for Programs and Engagement Dr. Victoria Deguzman at vvdeguzm@uci.edu.

The Institute of Transportation Studies, Irvine is proud to spotlight former student researcher, Joseph Faria-Poynter for his contributions to the Transportation Research Immersion Program (TRIP) and his dedication to advancing the transportation systems of tomorrow.

Joseph joined the TRIP program in summer 2022 while an undergraduate in civil engineering. Throughout the program , Joseph felt encouraged to explore what most interested him. After engaging in collaborative brainstorming with his advisors, Joseph began researching complete streets and pedestrian refuge islands. He learned to think outside the box, drawing inspiration from cities like San Francisco, to reimagine the landscapes of Orange County.

“TRIP helped me develop critical thinking and independent research skills to try to improve transportation throughout the state. It also made me more aware of the importance of accessibility, equity, and multi-modality within transportation.”

Joseph’s research provided him with a crucial understanding of how people interact with transit infrastructure, especially in regards to their safety.

“Transportation involves people and how everything relates, it’s not just design manuals.”

Building upon this understanding of transportation systems, Joseph now works as an assistant engineer at VST Engineering, in Oakland, while also pursuing a Masters in Transportation Management at San Jose State University. He hopes to one day improve safety and mobility in his own community by becoming a rail transit agency manager, a role that will provide him with a tangible sense of impact where it matters most.

When asked what practical advice students can gather from his experiences at ITS, Joseph urged the importance of remaining open to new experiences. By allowing passion to guide your research, there’s less of a need to have everything figured out.

“Just try something meaningful to you—it’ll come together.”

Each summer, the ITS-Irvine Transportation Research Immersion Program pairs undergraduate student researchers with faculty in paid positions to contribute meaningfully to ongoing transportation research projects. To learn more about the program, contact ITS-Irvine Assistant Director for Programs and Engagement Dr. Victoria Valentine Deguzman at vvdeguzm@uci.edu.

Attorney Sarah L. Catz has been a research associate at ITS for over 20 years. In addition, she is a lecturer in the Urban Planning and Public Policy Department and is a member of the University of California Institute of Transportation Studies Board of Advisors.

WalletHub, a personal finance company, recently featured ITS Research Associate Sarah Catz’s expertise on extended car warranties.

In the article, Catz demystifies selecting the right warranty by offering practical advice to shoppers. When researching protection plans, Catz tells drivers to look for reputable companies with transparent claim processes. While extended car warranties protect your vehicle from pricey repairs, illegitimate companies can trap drivers into expensive contracts with little coverage. Catz’s advice? Don’t rush the process.

“One of the most significant mistakes individuals make when purchasing an extended car warranty is failing to obtain multiple quotes and comparing prices and coverage options.”

Choosing the right warranty can be an intimidating task. By taking your time and heeding the advice of experts like Sarah Catz, you can make the right decision.

Read Sarah’s full WalletHub article here.

Stephen Ritchie, Institute of Transportation Studies – Irvine (ITS-Irvine) Director and Chancellor’s Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine (UCI) has been elected American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Fellow. “ASCE Fellows have made celebrated contributions and developed creative solutions that change lives around the world,” ASCE notes. “It is a prestigious honor held by 3% of ASCE members.”

Ritchie is a Life Member of ASCE and an internationally recognized educator and pioneering researcher in intelligent and sustainable transportation systems planning and engineering emphasizing the development, application and field deployment of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence techniques for traffic operations and management, and support of infrastructure investment for the nation’s freight transportation system. He is completing 20-years of service as Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UCI this year, where he has led the Institute to become one of the major transportation research centers in the nation,
while also being the focal point of the highly successful transportation research and education enterprise on the UCI campus. His research, and his founding of the international journal Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, helped define and advance the scientific basis of what is now the worldwide field of Intelligent Transportation Systems. His current leadership of the Freight Mobility Living Laboratory, a near-real-time, scalable ecosystem for exploring field deployments of innovative approaches and technologies for collecting vital road and rail freight activity data, is impacting research frontiers and the state of practice in California and the nation.

Chancellor’s Professor and ITS-Irvine Director Stephen Ritchie recently announced his intention to retire on July 1st, 2025. Under Professor Ritchie’s leadership, since 2006, ITS-Irvine has grown to become one of the major transportation research centers in the world, while also being the focal point of the highly successful interdisciplinary transportation research and education enterprise on the UCI campus.

The Institute has expanded its scope and depth during his tenure as Director. In addition to its traditional focus on civil engineering, urban planning and economics, the Institute now also attracts scholars from UCI and beyond in fields such as computer science, mechanical and aerospace engineering, law, medicine, and public health. Recent faculty hires across diverse departments have been drawn to ITS-Irvine’s reputation for supporting transportation research. Since taking over as director, 163 ITS-Irvine graduate students have completed their PhD, with 43 (26%) having obtained a faculty position after leaving the Institute and many others moving on to influential careers in industry and government. More than 200 ITS-Irvine graduate students have received a Master’s degree during this same period.

Professor Ritchie was instrumental in significantly expanding collaborations with other major national institutions. Over the past 15 years, UCI was jointly awarded two prestigious and ongoing US DOT University Transportation Centers: for the Pacific Southwest Region and the Center for Automated Vehicles Research with Multimodal Assured Navigation. He also led UCI’s collaboration with other UC colleagues to significantly increase State funding for transportation research and stakeholder engagement. This began in 2010 with leadership of the successful transportation-focused Multicampus Research Program and Initiative (MRPI) that tightened the broader UC research community’s focus on pressing transportation problems related to sustainability, equitable transportation, safety, and emerging technologies. The MRPI-fostered collaborations led directly to the establishment of the ongoing UC-wide Statewide Transportation Research Program that funds approximately $750,000 in research annually at UCI and provides a stable funding source to support administrative and outreach functions.

In total, the Institute was awarded well over $60M in extramural contracts and grants during Professor Ritchie’s Directorship—an average of over $3M per year. As a result, today ITS-Irvine has expanded research opportunities for graduate, undergraduate, and high school students and strengthened the mission of both the Institute and the University to expand the bounds of knowledge while developing a workforce that can tackle society’s most pressing problems.

After a search this spring, UCI Vice Chancellor for Research has selected Professor Jean-Daniel Saphores to succeed Professor Ritchie. Professor Saphores has been a core member of ITS for more than 18 years and brings a wide range of administrative and research experience to this role. His dual background in civil and environmental engineering (B.S. and 2 M.S. degrees) and Economics (M.A. and Ph.D degrees), as well as his experience as chair of the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, provide a solid foundation of experience from which to lead ITS in its next chapter.

Geoffrey Vander Veen, a third-year civil engineering major and ITS-Irvine student intern, is making inspiring contributions both in transportation research and through his philanthropic work with Engineers Without Borders (EWB). We are proud to highlight Geoffrey and the impact he is making!

Geoffrey first became involved with ITS-Irvine during his freshman year when his interest in transportation engineering and research led him to reach out to ITS faculty member Dr. Michael Hyland. Seeking to learn more about the field, he connected with Dr. Hyland, who offered him a position in his research lab, one that he has held ever since.

Since then, Geoffrey has continued to expand his research experience, including his participation in the ITS-Irvine Transportation Research Immersion Program (TRIP) this past summer. His research interests surround the planning and modeling side of transportation engineering, representing the intersection of math, computer science, and civil engineering. “I feel like the intersection of all those is a really interesting problem space where you just get to work on cool things and see what your computer outputs.”

Beyond transportation research, Geoffrey has played a pivotal role in reviving Engineers Without Borders at UCI, a student-led organization that uses engineering skills for humanitarian efforts. The club had become inactive during the pandemic, but Geoffrey and a group of friends saw an opportunity to bring it back to life.

Starting as secretary and now serving as co-president, Geoffrey has helped transform the organization from nonexistent to a thriving club. Since its revival, they have built or contributed to the construction of four houses in Mexico, partnered with Engineers Without Borders Orange County to implement a water filtration system in Ecuador, and begun working on a stormwater management project for an affordable housing development in Dallas, Texas.

EWB’s most recent project took Geoffrey and his team to Tijuana, Mexico, where they partnered with Corazón, a nonprofit community development organization, to build homes for families in need. These projects give students hands-on experience in construction while making an immediate impact in underserved communities. Explaining the process, Geoffrey describes how students work together to construct homes from the foundation to near completion in just one day:

“We meet up somewhere in San Diego and then take a bus across the border, and then we’ll spend the day learning construction skills, painting, cutting boards, nailing together the structure of the house, putting a roof together, building trusses for that. And then, usually by the end of the day, you have at least a pretty much functional small house. Which is pretty cool—like in one day you can go from just having a cement foundation to having a full house that’s ready for plumbing hookups and electrical hookups.”

For Geoffrey, the experience is about more than just building—it’s about connecting with communities and witnessing the real impact of his work.

“It is a really cool experience because you get to see a world and a culture that is very, very different from California, despite being less than 2 hours away. It’s a really rewarding and really enriching experience just to both go out and build something, which is satisfying in its own way, but also to build it for someone who genuinely needs it and will use it to its fullest capability.”

To read more about EWB’s most recent project in Tijuana, check out this article from UC Irvine News.

While research with ITS-Irvine and Engineers Without Borders may seem distinct, Geoffrey explains how his two passions complement each other. His work in transportation modeling aligns with the problem-solving approach he applies to EWB’s infrastructure projects.

“I think part of me really likes the idea of just kind of playing around with the future and building something cool in my brain and seeing how well it actually works. Which is a lot similar to a lot of what we do at EWB—like building water infrastructure usually or some sort of infrastructure for people in need. And then, seeing how well it works, and doing a lot of back and forth with people who actually live there and see what they want, what they need, and what they can maintain.”

As he looks ahead, Geoffrey is interested in pursuing a career in transportation engineering, with aspirations to work for a major railroad company like BNSF or Union Pacific or for a metropolitan planning organization like the Southern California Association of Governments. He also hopes to return to UCI to pursue a graduate program in the future.

His experiences with ITS and EWB have provided him with a strong foundation to tackle real-world engineering challenges. Reflecting on what he has learned, Geoffrey highlights both the technical skills and leadership experience he has gained.

“Definitely for starters, the hard skills of learning engineering projects, learning how to use a saw and a hammer—sort of like just knowing how to build things with my hands as well as build things with my brain. So like, Engineers Without Borders covers a lot of the hands-on, and the TRIP program covered a lot of how to conceptualize a problem, break it down, and then attack it from different angles.”

Beyond technical skills, Geoffrey has also developed leadership and project management abilities, learning how to organize teams and ensure that projects are completed successfully.

“Through TRIP, I was able to learn a lot about how I work and how to establish a good workflow for myself. And then Engineers Without Borders—I’ve also learned how to establish a good workflow with everyone, from a management or leadership position, such as how to get my team to do what we need to do to accomplish the things that we’ve set out to.”

Diverse and unique experiences, such as transportation modeling research and building homes for others from the ground up, cultivate the well-rounded skills essential for impactful changemakers. With the strong research foundation instilled by ITS-Irvine, combined with the real-world, hands-on experience gained through Engineers Without Borders, we are confident that this rising transportation engineer will achieve great things.

We can’t wait to see all that you continue to accomplish, Geoffrey!

Dr. Sarah L. Catz was recently featured in WalletHub’s article How Much Does Insurance Go Up After an Accident? In the piece, she shares her expertise on transportation policy and insurance trends, providing insights into how accidents impact insurance premiums.

Read the full article here: WalletHub.

Professor and Executive Vice Chair, Emergency Medicine
School of Medicine

How did you become interested in transportation?

My father was an auto mechanic; my mom was a nurse. I grew up in and around cars and healthcare. Although I love vehicles and how they work, I pursued medicine. Specifically, motor vehicle and traffic safety research.

I completed my emergency medicine residency here at UC Irvine and also completed a Medical Fellowship at the U.S. DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in Washington, DC. As a young emergency medicine faculty member at UCI, I cared for a lot of trauma injured patients from motor vehicles, cycling, and motorcycle crashes. As a result, I was driven to go beyond the doors of the emergency department and into communities to see what I could do to help prevent serious injuries.

My earliest transportation and traffic safety work started with examining the needs of child passenger/occupant safety among Latino children and their families that would end up in our emergency department. This led to broader work in collaborative relationships in Latino communities focused on prevention education here in Southern California. The community based approach and bilingual nature of working to enhance health literacy in traffic safety and injury prevention changed my whole career.

What drew you to UCI or ITS Irvine?

I was here at UC Irvine as a faculty member in the School of Medicine for about 13 years. In that time, my research focused on motor vehicle occupant protection, teen driver behavior, health disparities, and crash-injury epidemiology. In each of these areas, I worked with the Latino community at large.

I was recruited away in 2009 to the Yale School of Medicine and I continued my research in the Northeast. In mid-2022, I was recruited back to UCI and on my arrival, I immediately wanted to make a connection with the prestigious ITS-Irvine. Thankfully the leadership was interested in learning more about my transportation and traffic safety work. I felt like there was an immediate spark. I was asked to speak at their research symposium and help with their very first Transportation Safety Colloquium which was a great success.

If you could give incoming students one piece of career advice, what would it be?

I would say to take a dive deep into really understanding the scope of transportation and what transportation science offers across the spectrum. Get an understanding of the breadth of transportation science. Transportation is in the foreground, middle ground, and background of our lives; it’s central to living.

What are your research interests and what types of your projects are you currently working on?

The majority of my work over time has been in motor vehicle crash injury epidemiology with more specific sub-areas of investigation including crash injury prevention, young driver behavior, impaired driving, and related health disparities. I have been conducting research and program work in these areas for nearly 25 years.

What do you consider your most significant research finding or accomplishment thus far?

I would say that this would be some of the more recent NIH funded work that my colleagues and I have been examining, including understanding the teen delay in driving licensure phenomena and how this might impact youth and what that could mean for later health, education and employment.

Other notable work deals with what we call RWI and DWI, that is, riding with impaired drivers and driving while impaired. We’ve all heard a lot about DWI prevention programs for teens and those focused on reducing underage drinking, and those are all incredibly important, but there’s less known about this RWI.

We’ve conducted some large national mixed methods work, looking at trajectories of high school teens when and if they do or do not engage in RWI and DWI, and what that means for their choice in health behaviors as they move forward in life.

What issues in transportation keep you up at night?

Having practiced emergency medicine for 30 years and taking care of thousands of people that have been in motor vehicle crashes, my mind is always thinking about how we bolster and more deeply integrate injury prevention into day-to-day clinical care, even in the emergency department. I’m also always thinking about how we can move the research that has already been done more effectively into the light of translation for prevention activities and programs so that our communities can reap tangible benefits. I also fully realize that there is just so much complexity here but trying to disentangle some of these issues is what intrigues me most about transportation and traffic safety.

Also, the traffic safety world owes so much to vehicle safety engineering. However, the engineering piece is far from done and I believe there is much prevention gain to be had as we continue to merge safety engineering and health behavior together in the traffic safety space. There is a lot of room for innovation here.

Is there someone or something that inspired you to do your work?

My inspiration first came from my parents. My mom was a nurse and had a passion for the well-being of all of her patients and for closely working with physicians to deliver high quality care. My dad taught me so many things about vehicle upkeep and safety. What inspired me beyond that, was my clinical practice in emergency medicine and taking care of my patients.

What is a fun fact about you?

Before high school, I also got into roller speed skating. It was quite competitive. I actually got quite good and competed in the regional championships and won. That was a long time ago.

What is your superpower?

Given the trajectory of my own career and my experiences along the way, I might say that my superpower is effectively mentoring students, young physicians in training, and young faculty. I truly enjoy engaging with students and young faculty and discussing their career development and future plans.