Two ISyE undergraduate students, Haris Tsiotras and Iliyan Kajani, were recognized with the “Best in Show Poster Showcase” award at the 2025 Emerging Innovators Celebration, held on August 1 in Atlanta, GA, and hosted by the Partnership for Innovation (PIN). This recognition honors outstanding research contributions from student interns participating in PIN’s competitive summer research program, which places students in civic and community-focused innovation projects across Georgia. More than 50 project posters were presented at the event, and the award was based on overall project merit. Judging criteria included level of innovation, level of impact, and the project’s connection to community needs and outcomes, highlighting the quality of presentation, the substance, and societal relevance of the work.

Tsiotras and Kajani spent the summer working on the NSF-funded project titled Fostering Smart and Sustainable Travel through Engaged Communities under the guidance of Srinivas Peeta, Frederick R. Dickerson Chair and Professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial Engineering and School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The project leverages Peachtree Corners, GA, as a living lab to co-design data-driven interventions that promote sustainable travel. 

The students received mentorship from Gulam Kibria, a Ph.D. student in Operations Research at ISyE, and Viswa Sri Rupa Anne, a Ph.D. student in CEE, both working under Professor Peeta’s supervision in his Autonomous and Connected Transportation Lab. Kibria’s research focuses on promoting sustainable travel through optimization and the integration of emerging mobility modes and technologies, while Rupa’s research centers on encouraging sustainable travel behavior through the design and evaluation of monetary and non-monetary behavioral interventions.

During the internship, Tsiotras and Kajani contributed to key components of the project, including the development and testing of AI/ML-based models to classify travel modes using GPS data, the creation of data pipelines to process large-scale location data, and the evaluation of app-based behavioral interventions designed to nudge users toward more sustainable travel options. Their work focused on translating raw mobility data into meaningful behavioral insights to support more informed and effective community-level transportation planning. Their poster presentation highlighted key contributions in data engineering, app refinement, and behavioral intervention analysis, reflecting the depth and real-world impact of their summer research.

This recognition underscores ISyE students’ growing impact in applying analytical and computational tools to solve real-world sustainability challenges. It also highlights the importance of experiential learning opportunities like PIN in bridging academic research and community innovation.