Nikhil Menon is an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at the School of Science, Engineering, and Technology – Penn State Harrisburg. His research is multidisciplinary and multimodal and has majorly focused on two broad themes: (i) understanding the implications of emerging transportation technologies (such as autonomous, connected, electric, and shared (ACES) mobility systems) on user behavior, their intentions to use, and the investigation of prevailing inequities in the transition towards these systems; and (ii) sustainable transportation planning and behavioral modeling of users responding to shocks in the transportation system. He is adept at applying both quantitative and qualitative frameworks and incorporating latent variables and (un)observable entities using econometric models to address transportation challenges faced in urban and rural environments.

Menon has been extensively involved in research – leading and being part of research contracts at the federal and state level, including funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation (via the National Institute for Congestion Research, the Center for Transportation, Equity, Decisions, and Dollars, the National Center for Transit Research, and the Center for Transportation, Environment, and Community Health), Federal Highway Administration, American Association of State Highways and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and the Florida Department of Transportation. He is also actively involved in service initiatives within the community with appointments (as a member) to the Transportation Research Board’s Standing Committees on Women & Gender in Transportation (AME20), as well as the Effects of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on Travel Choices (AEP35) for the 2022-2025 cycle. Besides research, Menon teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the Civil Engineering program at Penn State Harrisburg.

Before joining Penn State, Menon held positions as a research faculty (2020-2021) and a postdoc (2017-2020) at the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida. He holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (Transportation) from the University of South Florida, an M.S. in Civil Engineering (Transportation) from the University of South Florida, an MSc. in Complex Transport Infrastructure Systems from Instituto Superior Tecnico (MIT Portugal Program), and a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Calicut.