Noosheen Nazari joined The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) as an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering in August 2019. She received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and her master’s degree from Tarbiat Modares University. Noosheen is a faculty affiliate of the​ NSF CREST Center for Multidisciplinary Research Excellence in Cyber-Physical Infrastructure Systems (MECIS) at UTRGV and the U.S. DOT National University Transportation Center “Safety21” at Carnegie Mellon University. Noosheen is the recipient of the 2022-2023 UTRGV Faculty Excellence Award in the category of Emerging Scholars. Her research is focused on planning and designing next-generation transportation systems centered on “humans.” Noosheen is a member of the National Academies Transportation Research Board (TRB) Standing Committee on ‘Travel Behavior and Values’ AEP30 since 2020.

Oscar received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UTRGV in 2020. He is currently a M.S. student at the UTRGV Mechanical Engineering Department. His M.S. thesis is focused on “Human-centric smart cities: A digital twin-oriented design of interactive autonomous vehicle” supported by the NSF CREST center. Oscar will join the Boeing Company as a manufacturer engineer in Feb 2024.

Judith received her B.B.A. in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin and M.S. in Data Analytics from The University of Texas at San Antonio. She is currently an M.S. student at UTRGV School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences. Her research in the H-SMART lab is focused on the public acceptance of urban autonomous mobility supported by the NSF CREST center.

Leonel is pursuing his B.S. degree in Civil Engineering with a minor in Computer Engineering at UTRGV (expected graduation: Spring 2024). He is currently a member of the H-SMART lab and conducts research on “Designing affective autonomous vehicles in smart mobility systems through human-technology interaction: Modeling human affects” supported by NSF CREST center at UTRGV.

Teresa graduated from South Texas College with an A.A. in Business Administration and is pursuing her B.S. degree in Computer Science at UTRGV with a minor in Asian Studies (Mandarin Chinese) (expected graduation: Spring 2025). She conducted data analysis research in the area of molecular biology for “The interplay between O-GlcNAcylation and phosphorylation in diabetic hearts” during the Summer of 2023. In the H-SMART lab, Teresa is involved in research on “Designing affective autonomous vehicles through human-technology interaction: Designing autonomous environment in a digital twin platform” supported by NSF CREST center.

Yellitza graduated from UTRGV with B.S. and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering. She was a member of the H-SMART lab during her M.S. studies and conducted research on “Investigating adoption behavior of owned and shared autonomous vehicles: An updated technology acceptance model.” Yellitza received the USDOT Dwight D. Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship supported by the U.S. Department of Transportation. She is currently working at Hanson Professional Services as a Civil Designer.

​Leonardo is pursuing his B.S. degree in Computer Science at UTRGV (expected graduation: Spring 2023). He was a member of the H-SMART lab during the Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 semesters conducting research on “Designing affective autonomous vehicles through human-technology interaction: Designing autonomous environment in a digital twin platform” supported by NSF CREST center.

​Jesus graduated with a B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from UTRGV. In the H-SMART lab, he was involved in research on “Designing affective autonomous vehicles through human-technology interaction: Designing autonomous environment in a digital twin platform” supported by NSF CREST center.

Andrea received her B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from UTRGV. She was a member of the H-SMART lab between Spring 2020 and Fall 2021 and conducted research on “Travel behavior analysis in automated transportation systems: Acceptance behavior of automated vehicles.” She is currently a M.S. student in Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.

Kristina received her B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from UTRGV. She was a member of the H-SMART lab in Fall 2021 and conducted research on “Investigating travel behavior in the era of autonomous transportation systems” supported by NSF CREST center at UTRGV.​

​Faith received her B.S. degree in Civil Engineering at UTRGV. She was a member of the H-SMART lab in Fall 2021 and conducted research on “Human-technology interaction in smart mobility systems” supported by NSF CREST center.

​Brian received B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from UTRGV. He was a member of the H-SMART lab in Fall 2021 and conducted research on “Public adoption of automated vehicle technologies” supported by NSF CREST center.​