Ph.D. Student
University of Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma, United States
My name is Hananeh Omidi, and I am a second-year PhD student at The University of Oklahoma. My research interest centers around exploring the multidimensional aspects of transportation and urban planning. My recent works have delved into topics ranging from electric vehicle adoption to the accessibility of healthcare and public transportation for marginalized communities. I am particularly passionate about understanding the interplay between mobility, environmental sustainability, equity, and social justice. My research agenda is driven by the goal of fostering inclusive, sustainable, and accessible transportation systems that cater to the diverse needs of communities. To accomplish this, I plan to continue utilizing a blend of spatial analysis, data-driven approaches, and interdisciplinary insights to contribute to more informed and equitable urban planning practices.
During my PhD, I have consistently maintained a high GPA. I have been actively involved in research projects such as presenting a poster in AAG 2023 called "Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations and EV Adoption Rate in the United States," and then another poster in SWAAG 2023 focusing on "The impact of micromobility programs on climate change mitigation in the U.S.." Participating in these conferences is integral to my professional development as it provides a platform to share my research findings, receive valuable feedback from experts in the field, and engage with fellow researchers. I am working on presenting a poster to the Transportation Research Board (TRB) in Washington, D.C. My research investigates the accessibility to healthcare and public transportation for individuals with disabilities in Washington, D.C. The findings of my GIS-based study are significant because they will highlight the disparities and provide actionable insights for mobility requirements and policy reform. My software and analytical skills helped me immensely in spatial analysis by creating transitsheds and walksheds for two city facilities. My next project would be working on a paper that has just been accepted in ICTD and will be published later. This study offers a novel approach to addressing environmental justice challenges. I will develop and expand my final project for the spatial statistics course investigating the spatial equity of air pollution exposure using Geographically Weighted Regression.
Throughout my path, GIS will support my projects in various functions such as network-based analysis, spatiotemporal analysis, route planning, location allocation, pattern analysis, and transitsheds. During my master’s thesis: “Assessing the Earthquake Vulnerability of Urban Deteriorated Area via the IHWP Model in GIS.” Having created a conceptual model including 14 indicators of reducing vulnerability to the earthquake, I used the IHWP model in ArcGIS to analyze the information. Assessing the renovation plans in my case study through the lens of reducing earthquake vulnerability was the innovation of my thesis that led to publishing it as an article at a professional national conference.
I would like to pursue a career in academia and become a person who can contribute to professional development in transportation, promote innovative ideas in local and global transportation and urban infrastructure issues, and eventually help tackle the challenges in different dimensions of all sectors of society.
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Artificial Intelligence in GIS for Transportation Applications and Challenges
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
4:45 PM – 6:00 PM MT