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

• Suhail Ahmad; “The Impact of Biofuel Mandates on Land Use;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (John Reilly)
• Allison Anderson; “Addressing Design Challenges in Mechanical Counterpressure Spacesuit Design and Space-Inspired Informal Education Policy;” SM, 2011 (02/01/2011) (Dava J Newman)
• Sirein Awadalla; “Wetland Model in an Earth Systems Modeling Framework for Regional Environmental Policy Analysis;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (Kenneth strzepek)
• Caroline Brun; “Economic and Technical Impacts of the Wind Variability and Intermittency on Long-Term Generation Expansion Planning in the U.S.;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (John Reilly)
• Georgina Campbell; “Incentive Competitions as a Policy Tool for Technological Innovation;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (Fiona Murray)
• Mathew Cherian; “A Semantic Data Federation Engine: Design, Implementation & Applications in Educational Information Management;” SM, 2011 (02/01/2011) (Timothy Berners-Lee, Linn W Hobbs)
• Indira Deonandan; “A Cost Model for Testing Unmanned and Autonomous Systems of Systems;” SM, 2011 (02/01/2011) (Debbie Nightingale)
• Laura Escudero San Jose; “The European Satellite Navigation Program: Policy Analysis and Recommendations for the Future;” SM, 2011 (02/01/2011) (Richard De Neufville)
• Nathan Fleming; “Metal Price Volatility: A Study of Informative Metrics and the Volatility Mitigating Effects of Recycling;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (Joel P Clark, Randolph Kirchain)
• Ruben Garcia Garcia; “Understanding the Performance of Broadband Networks through the Statistical Analysis of Speed Tests;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (David Clark)
• Christopher Gillespie; “A General Equilibrium Analysis of Climate Policy for Aviation;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (John Reilly)
• Cory Ip; “Measuring and Generating Social Influence Using Mobile Telephony;” SM, 2011 (02/01/2011) (Dennis Mc Laughlin, Alex Paul Pentland)
• Michael Kearney; “Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Deployment: Policy Analysis Using a Dynamic Behavioral Spatial Model;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (Ernest J Moniz)
• Ephraim Lanford; “Unique Abilities of Hopper Spacecraft to Enable National Objectives for Solar System Exploration;” SM, 2011 (02/01/2011) (Jeffrey Hoffman, Jeffrey Hoffman)
• Alexander Loijos; “Life Cycle Assessment of Concrete Pavements: Impacts and Opportunities;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (John Ochsendorf)
• James Morrison; “Game Theory Analysis of Aircraft Manufacturer Innovation Strategies in the Face of Increasing Airline Fuel Costs;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (R John Hansman)
• Eriko Nishimura; “Assessing the Fuel Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Future Light-Duty Vehicles in Japan;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (John B Heywood)
• Maximilian Parness; “The Environmental and Cost Impacts of Vehicle Electrification in the Azores;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (Stephen Connors, Linn W Hobbs)
• Matthew Pearlson; “A Techno-Economic and Environmental Assessment of Hydroprocessed Renewable Distillate Fuels;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (James Hileman)
• Lewis Perkins; “An Abridged Enterprise Assessment Model to Promote Consistent Reassessment: Model Development, Assessment Process and Results Analysis;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (Ricardo Valerdi)
• Pernilla Regardh; “Safe, Secure and Ethical? Assessing and Regulating Risks Associated with Synthetic Biology;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (Kenneth A Oye)
• Alexander Shih; “The Contribution of Mobile Telecommunication Technology to Sustainable Development in Selected Countries in Africa;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (Nicholas A Ashford)
• An Vu; “Radiation Therapy of Pediatric Brain Tumors: Comparison of Long-Term Health Effects and Costs between Proton Therapy and IMRT;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (Ian H Hutchinson, Richard Lanza)
• Yuan Yao; “Impacts of Large Quantities of Wind Energy on the Electric Power System;” SM, 2011 (02/01/2011) (Stephen Connors)
• Stephen Zoepf; “Automotive Features: Mass Impact and Deployment Characterization;” SM, 2011 (06/01/2011) (John B Heywood)