TTI Graduate Research Assistant Ahmadreza Mahmoudzadeh is the recipient of a $6,500 scholarship from the American Public Transportation Foundation (APTF). The APTF Gary Thomas Ambassadorial Scholarship will be awarded during the American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA’s) TRANSform Conference held Oct. 13–16, 2019, in New York. This scholarship is awarded to college students or transit professionals pursuing or advancing a career in the public transit industry.
APTA is a nonprofit international association of more than 1,500 public- and private-sector member organizations. An affiliate of APTA, the foundation provides scholarships for transit scholars. As a member of APTA, TTI sponsored Mahmoudzadeh’s application.
“I’m honored to be chosen as an APTF scholar, and I appreciate the APTF board of directors for choosing me as a scholarship recipient,” says Mahmoudzadeh. “Working as a graduate research assistant in TTI’s Transit Mobility Program has enriched my professional development, and I’m looking forward to working on novel transportation projects benefitting the traveling public.”
Mahmoudzadeh’s research at TTI involves modeling, geospatial analysis, programming, Big Data analysis, visualization, transit scheduling and technical document preparation. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in Texas A&M University’s Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran, Iran.
“Ahmadreza is a self-motivated worker who asks for further clarification on tasks, points out potential issues with data and offers suggestions for achieving desired project outcomes,” notes TTI Assistant Research Scientist Todd Hansen. “His ambitions for professional development include researching new emerging technologies and modeling techniques to improve public transportation.”