Director

Nikhil is an assistant professor of civil engineering at Penn State Harrisburg. Menon's research interests lie in the areas of transportation and urban mobility. He also teaches in the undergraduate and graduate Civil Engineering programs at Penn State Harrisburg. 

Outside of work, Menon enjoys long-form, cooking, travel, and agonizing over Manchester United.

More details can be found on the Bio page.  

Graduate Student Advisees

Suhail Asghar (2023 - present) - Ph.D. in Engineering Systems

Born amidst the majestic mountains of Jammu and Kashmir, India, Suhail's inherent love for these terrains goes beyond mere admiration. With an urge to contribute to his homeland, Suhail was particularly drawn to sustainable transportation solutions tailored for hilly regions. Today, Suhail is diving deeper into his passion as a Ph.D. student in Engineering Systems at Penn State University. His focus? To unravel innovative ways to enhance travel behavior and promote sustainable transportation while benefitting his cherished homeland.

If you're keen to strike up a conversation with him, soccer is your go-to topic. He can passionately discuss the game for hours!

Warren Gaughen (2022 - present) - B.S. & M.S. in Civil Engineering

A native South-Central Pennsylvanian, Warren Gaughen is a Transportation Engineering graduate student at the Pennsylvania State University in Harrisburg. After spending over fifteen years in advertising, IT infrastructure, operations, analytics, technical project management, and enterprise software development, he returned to complete his B.S. in Civil Engineering at Penn State. Warren has deep interests in the willingness to adopt automation and the short-term implications and long-term ramifications of this adoption. He intends to work on this topic over the course of his master's degree and investigate the potential environmental effects of this widespread adoption. 

Catherine Suria (2021 - present) - B.S. & M.S. in Civil Engineering

Born in San Miguel, El Salvador, Catherine Suria is a Transportation Engineering graduate student at the Pennsylvania State University in Harrisburg. Living in places as different as New York City, Provo, and Guadalajara inspired Catherine’s curiosity to study cities and sustainability. This has pushed her to pursue her Master’s degree, aspiring to find solutions in public transit to limit the effects of climate change and enhance transportation equity. As a student scientist, Catherine enrolled in research programs where she could practice her technical skillset, producing concept designs for micro-mobility systems enhanced by analytical reports with key outcomes. When she is not studying, she can be found spending time with her family or hiking Pennsylvania’s various forest trails.

Undergraduate Student Advisees

Joshua Mathew (Summer 2023) - B.S. in Electrical Engineering

Joshua Mathew is a passionate and driven undergraduate electrical engineering student with a thirst for knowledge, studying at The Pennsylvania State University. He is always engaged in various research activities and loves diving deep into different subjects while pondering thought-provoking questions. Joshua's strong desire to learn and discover new things fuels his motivation to continuously improve his skills and expand his knowledge by enquiring, pondering, and researching until he finds an answer. 

At STEMS Lab, Joshua worked on identifying accessibility and mobility challenges with sidewalks in and around Middletown, PA.  

Alain Izabayo (2021 - 2022) - B.S. in Civil Engineering

Alain is an undergraduate student majoring in Civil Engineering at Penn State Harrisburg, expecting to graduate in August of 2022. Some of his areas of interest include traffic analysis and planning, active transportation, signal systems and ITS, transit, and emerging technologies. His most recent research project has been on evaluating the possibility of improving airport capacity and efficiency through satellite gates and autonomous cars on the airside. 

Aside from studies and research, Alain enjoys biking, hiking, poetry, and playing volleyball and soccer. Alain is a Transportation Analyst at Kittelson & Associates, Inc. in Harrisburg, PA.