IBRAHIM ITANI
Get to Know a Bit More About Me
ABOUT ME
My parents told me one thing growing up that I take with me to this very day:
"Do whatever you want, but be the best at it."
My pursuit of being the best possible version of my self took me to the world's #1 Transportation Engineering program at UC Berkeley. However, transportation is not my only passion. Throughout my tenure as a PhD student/candidate I have developed my knowledge of statistics, data analysis, machine learning and operations research. I now apply these skills in the context of transportation data analysis and modeling at the Sacramento Area Council of Governments; one of California's major Metropolitan Planning Organizations.
On my off time I like to hike and watch movies.
Something would be amiss if I didn't mention COVID-19. The pandemic has had an effect on me like many others. I coped through online friend gatherings, baking and spending some time developing my skills.
EDUCATION
Life Long Learner
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
Aug 2018 - May 2022
Doctor of Philosophy in Transportation Engineering
Minors: Industrial Engineering & Operations Research, Statistics
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
Aug 2017 - May 2018
Master of Science in Transportation Engineering
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT
Aug 2013 - May 2017
Bachelor of Engineering in Civil and Environmental Engineering
EXPERIENCE
Data & Modeling Analyst at the Sacramento Area Council of Governments
Jan 2022 - now
Analyzed data generated from an activity based travel model.
Streamlined and automated the population synthesis process by building a comprehensive tool using API's and modules.
Performed a GHG analysis required of MPO's by the state of California.
Fulfilled data requests made to the modeling team.
GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCHER
Aug 2018 - NowSep 2017 - May 2017
Focused on congestion management in urban environments. Designed experiments to study the effects of turn prohibitions and congestion pricing. Built simulations of traffic behavior. Analyzed data regarding the effects of different management strategies.
Investigated Safe Systems and Vision Zero approaches to road safety
GRADUATE STUDENT INSTRUCTOR
Aug 2020 - Dec 2020Aug 2019 - Dec 2019
Taught CE 251 Transportation Operations discussion sessions. Held office hours. Guided students through the course.
RESEARCHER
May 2017 - July 2017
Delivered an operationally and financially viable Taxi-Sharing model for the American University of Beirut.
MY SKILLS
DATA ANALYSIS
Statistical Models, Machine Learning, Time Series Data
Python, R, MATLAB, SQL
OPERATIONS RESEARCH
Optimization, Linear Programming, Stochastic Processes, Markov Chains
TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
Congestion Management, Demand Analysis, Microsimulations, Land Use Planning.
AIMSUM, SYNCHRO, self-built algorithms
COMMUNICATION
Communicating complicated concepts and findings to groups of different backgrounds (Assembly members, engineering students, academic advisors).
NOTABLE CLASSES
Mathematical Programming I
Applied Stochastic Processes I
Time Series Data Analysis
The Design and Analysis of Experiments
Statistical Models: Theory and Applications
Introduction to Machine Learning
Behavioral Modeling for Engineering, Planning, and Policy Analysis
Operation of Transportation Facilities
Analysis of Transportation Data
Transportation and Land Use Planning
Air Transportation
Highway Traffic Operations
Transportation Safety and Injury Control
Social Equity and Racial Justice in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Transportation Economics
NOTABLE PROJECTS
PHD DISSERTATION ON MANAGING URBAN CONGESTION
Explored the synergies of combining supply-side and demand-side congestion management strategies. Built a simulation model. Proved that synergies could exist when combining turn prohibitions and congestion pricing. Check out the TR Part A publication here
Designed experiments to find the optimal left-turn prohibitions zone size. Analyzed data from microsimulations
NOTABLE AWARDS
IBDAA 1ST PRIZE AWARD IN THE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT CATEGORY
RESEARCH GRANT FROM ITS AND CALTRANS PARTNERSHIP
OUTSTANDING GRADUATE STUDENT INSTRUCTOR AWARD
Award for the development of Smart Municipal Services. A data driven approach to provide sustainable solutions for municipal services. Check out the related work in the following conference proceeding p113 here.
$79,630 grant to study "Strategically Banning Left Turns to Enhance Congestion Pricing". Resulted in a paper ("Synergies of combining demand- and supply-side measures to manage congested streets") that was published in press in TR Part A. Read more about the grant here. You can access the paper here.
Given in recognition of outstanding performance as the graduate student instructor of Transportation Operation (Fall 2020) in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department.
"It's not about the cards you're dealt, but how you play the hand"
