MIT Technology and Policy Program
Thesis Year: 2021
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
2025 Thesis Prize Winners
- Nirmal Bhatt; “The Missing Megawatts Problem: Improving Modelling Practices to Prepare for an Uncertain Future” (2025). Advisor(s): Ruaridh MacDonald; Marija Ilic.
- Christopher Colcord; “Assessing Opportunities to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Electric Arc Furnace Steelmaking in the United States” (2025). Advisor(s): Christopher R. Knittel; Valerie J Karplus.
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 2025
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A Tale of Two Sovereignties
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Addressing Climate Change through Artificial Intelligence and Education
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An Evaluation of Regulatory Frameworks for the Development of Interstate Hydrogen Infrastructure in the United States
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An Exercise in Selecting Low-cost Air Quality Sensor Placements within an Urban Environment
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Assessing the Socio-Economic Risks in Electric Vehicle Supply Chains
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Automated Rehosting and Instrumentation of Embedded Firmware
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Aviation Effects on Local Business: Mapping Community Impact and Policy Strategies for Noise Remediation
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Causal Impact of Information Crowd-Sourcing Platform on Farmer Welfare
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Computer Vision-based Post-disaster Needs Assessment from Low Altitude Aerial Imagery
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Crowd Equals Diversity? A Diversity Analysis on Participation of Agency-sponsored Open Innovation Challenges