Dr. Sanjana Hossain (Supervisor: Professor Khandker Nurul Habib) will always appreciate the diversity of people and ideas that she found at U of T Engineering.
“I got the opportunity to work with researchers from various backgrounds, teach classes to a multicultural student body and make friends with people from different countries around the world,” she says.
“These experiences have shaped my values and principles and made me more respectful towards others.”
Her thesis investigated the feasibility of synthesizing travel data from multiple sources to generate more comprehensive and representative information to support disaggregate travel demand modelling.
“This research will help transportation planners, demand modellers and policy makers by producing rich and accurate input data for evidence-based transportation planning in the emerging context,” she says.
During her PhD, Hossain worked as a data science intern on the Policy, Research & Economics team at Uber Technologies Inc.
She was also the recipient of many scholarships, including the Ontario Trillium Scholarship, the Transport Canada Scholarship and the graduate student fellowship from U of T’s School of Cities. In 2021, she was awarded the Jim Davey Award by the Canadian Transportation Research Forum for her paper, which explored the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on bicycle-sharing demand in Toronto.
After graduation, Hossain will be taking up a postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern University in Chicago, under the supervision of Professor Hani Mahmassani, and supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
“I will be investigating a variety of empirical and methodological research questions, such as what is the potential demand for urban air mobility services in the state of Illinois, what are the long-lasting effects of the pandemic on travel behaviour and demand, and what factors contribute to sample attrition in panel surveys,” she says.
“I hope that these topics will help diversify and extend my research experiences further.”
I would like to thank all my friends and colleagues at the Travel Demand Modelling group of U of T. They not only provided an engaging and productive research environment but also helped me navigate through the tough PhD journey. They also helped me enjoy my life in Toronto to the fullest.
Dr. Sanjana Hossain
"Grads to Watch 2023" by Safa Jinje & Tyler Irving was originally published (with all 15 grads to watch) by U of T Engineering News.