Research Team

Dr. Jason Hawkins is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Calgary. His expertise has expertise in travel behaviour, transportation demand modeling, spatial econometrics, and life-cycle assessment. Dr. Hawkins is a member of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Traveler Behavior and Values Committee. He is also a board member on the Zephyr Foundation for open transportation analysis. Dr. Hawkins received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 2021, for which he received the Eric Pas Award from the International Association for Travel Behaviour Research (IATBR). He holds M.Sc. (2016) and B.Sc. (2014) degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Calgary. Dr. Hawkins completed postdoctoral work at the University of Texas at Austin. He was previously an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln (2021-2024).

Potential Graduate Students

The TECH Group is always looking for curious scholars to conduct transdisciplinary research in methods and empirics related to sutainable infrastructure development and household choice. Funding programs include the NSERC Graduate Programs for Master’s and Doctoral students, the SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship, the China Scholarship Council, and other funded opportunities. If you have received funding from these programs (or plan to apply), please send me an email if you are interested in the TECH Group and the University of Calgary. Please also check your eligibility prior to emailing me if you plan to apply.

We are particularly interested in students with transdisciplinary research interests in policy studies or planning. See the University of Calgary Transciplinary Research in Policy tudies website for more details.

Research Associates

	Name	About

| | Asiri Senasinghe | “The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious” ~ John Sculley.

Asiri Senasinghe is a dedicated researcher with a PhD and MSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Calgary, where his doctoral work focused on enhancing public transit equity through simulation and mathematical modelling. He also holds an MSc in Applied Statistics, with an emphasis on highway safety improvements, along with an MSc in Applied Electronics and a BSc in Applied Sciences. His research interests centre on developing sustainable urban transportation systems to create resilient, equitable cities prepared for rapid future changes.|

Graduate Students

	Name	About
	Mehrnoosh Zare	Mehrnoosh is an M.Sc. student in Transportation Engineering at the University of Calgary. She received her M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering with a specialization in Logistics and Supply Chain Management from K.N Toosi University of Technology and her B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Azad University.
	Sam Pollock	Sam Pollock is a PhD student whose research focuses on the safety, comfort, and design of multi-use pathways. He is passionate about using preference and behavioural modelling to understand transportation choices and encourage people to make healthy and sustainable transportation decisions. Sam previously completed his BSc and MSc in Civil Engineering at the University of Calgary. Outside academia, Sam’s interests include coaching speed skating, climbing mountains, and baking banana bread.
	Mohammed Abuhadrous	Mohammed is an M.Sc. student in transportation engineering at the University of Calgary - co-supervised with Dr. Lina Kattan. Mohammed received his B.Sc. in electrical engineering from XXX. He is working on EV charging station planning for multi-unit dwellings in Calgary considering travel patterns and grid constraints.
	Hania Afzal	Hania is a Ph.D. student in engineering policy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She received her M.Sc. in Economics from IBA Karachi and her B.Sc. in Economics from Quaid-I-Azam University. Prior to joining UNL, Hania was a researcher at Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE). She is currently working on electric vehicle adoption in the United States.
	Omid Armantalab	Omid is a Ph.D. student in transportation engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He received his M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology and his B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Kharazmi University. He is currently working on Bayesian statistical representations of transportation accessibility for equity and Justice40 applications.
	Mohammad Elayan	Mohammad is a Ph.D. student in transportation engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He received both his M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology. Mohammad spent a decade working in the transportation industry in the UAE.
	Donya Negahbani	Donya is an M.Sc. student in transportation engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She received her B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Tehran.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Undergraduate students at the University of Calgary are encouraged to reach out to Dr. Hawkins about research opportunities. Funding opportunities are available via PURE.: {tbl-colwidths=“[20,25,60]”}

:—|:—|:—|:— 2025 | Yasmine Baccari | B.S. Civil Engineering | University of Calgary

Previous Students

	Name	Thesis Topic
	Nick Aldridge	“Performing Motorized-to-Non-Motorized Crash Analysis Using Multi-Model LBS Traffic Data Calibrated Through Random Forest Models”

Year	Name	Degree	Institution
2023-2024	Kun-Yu Lee	B.S. Computer Science	University of Nebraska
2022-2024	Sagun Karki	B.S. Computer Science	University of Nebraska
2022-2023	Abigail Metschke	B.S. Environmental Engineering	University of Nebraska
2022-2023	William Turman	B.S. Civil Engineering	University of Nebraska
2022-2022	Casey Nolte	B.S. Chemical Engineering	University of Nebraska
2022-2022	Kumo Babe	B.S. Mechanical Engineering	University of Nebraska