Theses

TPP student research spans many domains, but shares methodologies and goals. Examples of award-winning theses and noteworthy research projects are shared here. We also maintain a public database of all TPP thesis titles, with links to web publications where available.

Award-Winning Theses and Student Research Stories

2024 Thesis Prize Winners

• Michael Giovanniello; “Modeling and Implementation of the U.S. Hydrogen Production Credit” (2024). Advisor(s): Dharik Mallapragada; Ruaridh Macdonald.
• Kailin Graham; “Doing the Dirty Work: Employment vulnerability to the energy transition implications for climate policy and politics” (2024). Advisor(s): Christopher R. Knittel.

2023 Thesis Prize Winner

• Maja Svanberg; “The Economic Advantage of Computer Vision Over Human Labor, and Its Market Implications” (2023). Advisor(s): Neil Thompson.

2022 Thesis Prize Winners

• Farri T. Gaba; “Solutions to the Generalized UAV Delivery Routing Problem for Last-Mile Delivery with Societal Constraints” (2022). Advisor(s): Matthias Winkenbach
• Jonathan Garrett Novak; “Policy and Design Courses of Action to Improve Resilience of Proliferated Low Earth Orbit Constellations Against Adverse Solar Weather” (2022). Advisor(s): Daniel E Hastings.
• Aaron Matthew Schwartz; “The Role of Natural Gas in Future Low-Carbon Energy Systems” (2022). Advisor(s): Dharik S Mallapragada.

2021 Thesis Prize Winner

Karan Bhuwalka, recent TPP alum who won best thesis in 2021, reflects on TPP’s interdisciplinary approach and bringing data science, manufacturing, and social issues together in his research on the materials that make up electric vehicles.

• Assessing the Socio-Economic Risks in Electric Vehicle Supply Chains (Thesis)
• Characterizing the Changes in Material Use due to Vehicle Electrification (Environmental Science & Technology, Jul 2021)

Do native ads shape our perception of the news?: Manon Revel

Often masquerading as legitimate news, so-called “native” ads, pushed by content recommendation networks, have brought badly needed revenue to the struggling U.S. news industry. But at what cost? TPP alum Manon Revel is now a PhD student in the IDSS Social and Engineering Systems PhD program. Her TPP thesis advisor was Prof. Ali Jadbabaie.

• Combining AI with passions (MIT News, March 2019)

Health Savings of Renewable Energy: Emil Dimanchev

Research from TPP alum Emil Dimanchev, who won TPP’s best thesis award in 2019, found that health savings from cleaner air would more than pay for the cost of implementing renewable energy policies. His thesis was advised by TPP director Noelle Selin.

• Shift to renewable electricity a win-win at statewide level (MIT News, Aug 2019)

Thesis Database

Thesis Titles, 1977 to 2015

• Jagat Adhiya; “Is Ocean Fertilization a Good Carbon Sequestration Option? Examining Scientific Uncertainties and Developing a Framework for Evaluating Outcomes;” SM, 2002 (8/1/2001) (Sallie W. Chisholm, Gordon M. Kaufman)
• Olubukola Afolayan-Jejeloye; “Risk-Informed Public Safety Policy for Seismic Events in the Vicinity of Nuclear Power Plants;” SM, 2002 (2/1/2002) (George Apostolakis, Michael Golay, R. Lester)
• Chizuru Aoki; “Technological Change for Environmental Improvement: the Case of the Mexican Automobile Sector;” PhD, 2002 (6/1/2002)
• Carlos Barrientos; “Westinghouse: the rise and fall of a dominant design in the electric power industry;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (John S. Carroll)
• Stephane Bassene; “Potential for Reducing Fuel Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the US Light Duty Vehicle Fleet;” SM, 2002 (9/1/2001) (John B. Heywood)
• Salim Bouzekouk; “Lean Technology Development;” SM, 2002 (9/1/2001) (Deborah S. Nightingale)
• Xavier Brucker; “Primitive-Based Payment Systems for Flexible Value Transfer in the Personal Router;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (Sharon Gillett, John Wroclawski)
• Eric Cahill; “Interim Steps on the Path to Sustainable Mobility - An Application of System Dynamics Modeling for Crafting Powertrain Product Strategy Strategies for the Introduction of Clean Powertrain Technolog;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002)
• Laurianne Curtil; “Urban Air Pollution Climate Policy;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (John M. Reilly)
• Antony Evans; “Responses to Airport Delays - A System Study of Newark International Airport;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (John-Paul B. Clarke)
• John Falker, III; “Engineering and Policy Analysis of Strategic and Tactical Options for Futute Aerospace Traffic Management;” PhD, 2002 (6/1/2002)
• Pedro Ferreira; “Implications of decreasing bandwidth price on allocating Internet traffic between transit and peering arrangements;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (David D. Clark)
• Sebastian Fixson; “Linking Modularity and Cost: A Methodology to Assess Cost Implications of Product Architecture Differences to Support Product Design;” PhD, 2002 (6/1/2002)
• Wolfgang Gatterbauer; “Interdependencies of electricity market characteristics and bidding strategies of power producers;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (Marija D. Ilic)
• Ralph Hall; “Introducing the Concept of Sustainable Transportation to the U.S. DOT through the Reauthorization of TEA-21;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (Joseph M. Sussman)
• Robert Hardy; “Development, Testing and Privacy Implications of Integrated, Adaptive Virtual Customer Market Research Tools;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (Ely Dahan)
• Li Jiang; “Cross Border Software Development and the Policy Implication for China;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (Janice A. Klein+E345)
• Aaron Kirtley; “Fostering Innovation Across Aerospace Supplier Networks;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002)
• Thomas Lee; “Principles of Attribution for Data Integration: Technology and Policy Perspectives;” PhD, 2002 (2/1/2002)
• Yong Li; “The Economic Effects of Surface Transport Deregulation;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (Yossi Sheffi)
• Vladimir Manuel; “Consequences of the Genomic Revolution for the Regulation of the Internet;” SM, 2002 (2/1/2002) (Joel P. Clark)
• Christine McDonald; “Modeling the U.S. Electric Energy Social-Political Envirionment: A Global Warming-Nuclear Power-Policymaking Construct;” SM, 2002 (9/1/2001) (Kent F. Hansen, David H. Marks)
• Maria Fuencisla Merino Artalejo; “Market Impact of Software Radio: Benefits and Barriers;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (Sharon Gillett, William Lehr)
• Simon Mui; “Design and evaluation of innovation-oriented environmental regulation for alternatively-powered vehicles;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (Nicholas A. Ashford, Donald R. Sadoway)
• Christopher Musso; “Design and Manufacture of Continuous Strand Metal Matrix Composites;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (Thomas W. Eagar)
• Shushian Colin Ong; “Cross-border Equity Exchange Mergers: Quantifiable Effects and Policy Implications;” SM, 2002 (2/1/2002) (Jiang Wang)
• Nobuyuki Ozaki; “A comparative analysis of the US and Japanese online travel industry;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (Erik Brynjolfsson)
• David Pearah; “The Voice Web: A Technology, Business, and Policy Analysis of the Speech-Driven Mobile Internet;” SM, 2002 (2/1/2002) (Lee McKnight)
• Natalia Ramirez; “Valuing Flexibility in Infrastructure Developments: The Bogota Water Supply Expansion Plan;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (Richard de Neufville)
• Mimi Takayanagi; “Urban Transportation Policies Toward Sustainability of Mega-Cities;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (Fred Moavenzadeh)
• Patrick Teung; “Examination of the Bio-Manufacturing Opportunities within the Biopharmaceutical Industry: A Comparative Case Study of the Leading Manufacturing Technologies;” SM, 2002 (2/1/2002) (Anthony J. Sinskey)
• Emy Tseng; “Unbundling Fiber to the Home: A Technology and Policy Assessment;” SM, 2002 (9/1/2001) (Sharon Gillett)
• Nico Voigtlaender; “A Dynamic Input-Output Model to Project U.S. Freight Transportation Demand;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (Andreas Schafer, Karen R. Polenske)
• Hungjen Wang; “Routing Policy on Robustness in WDM Optical Networks;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (Muriel Medard, Eytan Modiano, Marija Ilic)
• Sheng-Fei Wang; “Extended Producer Responsibility: Its Principal and Application on the Computer Take-Back;” SM, 2002 (9/1/2001) (Dara O'Rourke)
• Annalisa Weigel; “Bringing Policy into Space Systems Conceptual Design: Qualitative and Quantitative Methods;” PhD, 2002 (6/1/2002)
• Yugao Xu; “Participation of Developing Countries in Global Climate Regime;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (John M. Reilly)
• Hongwei Zhu; “A Technology and Policy Analysis for Global E-Business;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (Stuart E. Madnick)
• Miriam Zuk; “Evaluating the Benefits of Reducing Uncertainty in Air Quality Management - The Case of Mexico City;” SM, 2002 (6/1/2002) (John Evans, Mario Molina)