Hanig receives Rath Award

Lily Hanig, a recent Ph.D. graduate of Carnegie Mellon University's Department of Engineering and Public Policy (EPP), was the 2024 recipient of the Bhakta and Sushama Rath Graduate Award for her research in the equity and sustainability impacts of U.S. transportation disruptions.

This award recognizes a Ph.D. student in the College of Engineering or the Mellon College of Science whose research benefits U.S. industry or meets an important societal need.

The nomination highlighted Hanig’s skill in combining highly technical policy analysis with large data sets, then translating the findings back into the policy realm to to yield meaningful results.

“The theme of all of my papers is that they connect real-world policy related to transportation with large multiple data sets to do data analysis projects that give insight into policy from sustainability and equity perspectives,” Hanig explained. She saw the importance in analyzing external disruptions like the pandemic, as well as internal disruptions like technology changes and the transition to electric vehicles, to understand the equity impacts of both.

EPP was uniquely well-suited to these interests and skillsets.

“I wanted a program that was in engineering, with a technical focus that would give me the quantitative skills I needed, but I also cared about policy,” she said. “Any top engineering program could have given me the first part, but EPP is one of the only programs where you not only do technical analysis but look at policy implications, who is impacted, and how they are impacted.”

Hanig had also been impressed by Dr. Destenie Nock, who became her advisor in EPP, after the two met at a conference.

Nock, assistant professor in Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE) and Engineering and Public Policy, and Dr. Corey Harper, assistant professor in CEE and the Heinz School of Information Systems and Public Policy, served as co-chairs on Hanig’s thesis, titled "Planning for Equitable Outcomes During Periods of Disruption in the Transportation Sector."

Hanig has accepted a senior energy analyst position on the PowerSIMM™ team at Ascend Analytics, where she will work in optimal energy portfolio management and resource planning.

“Ph.D. work is a little more abstract,” Hanig said. “You’re doing research, but it’s a sort of high-level comment on policy from a research perspective rather than actual implementation. So I’m excited to have the opportunity to work with clients and see what that experience is like.”