A deeper dive on ‘why’ transportation with Xinzhi Zhong

As a student focusing her studies in the realm of transportation, Xinzhi Zhong, fourth-year PhD student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has found an abundance of opportunities and friendships that continue to support her research journey.

In this video, Zhong highlights her start in transportation, current research focus on human-centered transportation, collaboration with peers within the College of Engineering, and advice for new and current graduate and undergraduate students.

Inside the Lab: Connecting humans to transportation with Xinzhi Zhong

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Below are excerpts from audio transcriptions from conversation with Zhong.

With many schools and colleges to choose from, what brought you to UW-Madison?

To be honest, the primary reason is my supervisor, professor Sue Ahn. She is an inspiring role model in the traffic flow theory and operations. I already read a lot of her papers, and I really appreciate her outstanding reputation, both as a mentor and as a researcher. She is a primary reason [why] I choose UW-Madison. The second reason is because UW-Madison is a top-tier university in the world and there is a lot of like resources for me to do the research that I’m interested in. And there is a lot of outstanding researchers from different expertise and backgrounds I can collaborate with. I think the third reason is because Madison is a peaceful place.

What is it like working with Sue Ahn?

She’s a really nice mentor who is very flexible with students. I like work[ing] with her because she’s patient, she’s nice, and she’s super supportive. Sometimes I feel she’s like my family member instead of like my mentor because she would provide me with guidance in my research, and she’ll provide me some emotional support when I get stuck on a challenge. I didn’t find that my PhD is super challenging because of her.

What is unique or fun about being a student here?

I think for me it’s the collaboration, especially with like the talented researchers, and it’s not only the fact that we can collaborate, working on very super interesting, meaningful research, but I am able to build a lasting friendship with them. That’s very unique here and makes me happy.

So, what excites you about your work and your research?

The exciting thing I feel [with] my work is that it could outwardly contribute to the system that shapes people’s everyday mobilities for millions of people. I feel it’s super meaning as one day, I’d like for people to say when using transportation systems, they feel it’s good and I can say, oh, I contributed a bit to it.