Qinhua Jiang, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in transportation engineering, has been named the 2022 doctoral student of the year by the Pacific Southwest Region University Transportation Center. 

At UCLA, Jiang uses data-driven and statistical methods to resolve issues in the transportation system, with a specific focus on how autonomous and electric vehicles affect individual travel choices and how those behaviors shape the larger transportation network. He works closely with the UCLA Mobility Lab, Institute of Transportation Studies, and the B. John Garrick Institute for the Risk Sciences.

Jiang also led the creation of an AI-based prediction model based on hurricane evacuations in Louisiana to help local officials better respond to traffic congestion ahead of future storms. It will be embedded in the Federal Highway Administration’s Integrated Modeling for Road Condition Prediction (IMRCP) system for practical use. 

“I feel honored to have received this award. It reflects the support I’ve had for my career and recognizes the work that I’ve done,” Jiang said. “I hope to continue to contribute to the transportation community and collaborate with more faculty members and students in the PSR.”

Jiang earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Beijing Jiaotong University, where he focused on the structural side of civil engineering. 

After completing his doctoral degree, Jiang is open to pursuing either academic or industry positions, as long as he can continue to use statistical methods to resolve real issues in the mobility system. His advice for students in the transportation field is to expose themselves to other disciplines as much as possible and gain skills that they can apply to their research, including data science or programming skills.