By Deepa Hegde, MS in Business Analytics 2017

METRANS is pleased to introduce student assistant Meiduo Ji, who assists as both a member of the administrative team and as a research assistant. Ji was born in China, and completed her Bachelor’s of Engineering in Geographic Information Systems from Beijing Normal University in 2016. She is now a first-year Master of Planning student at the USC Price School of Public Policy, concentrating in transportation.

(Photo by Meiduo Ji)

“I heard about METRANS from a USC Price alumnus who focused on transportation planning and worked for METRANS,”  Ji shared.  “She highly recommended me to join METRANS. Since I was also interested in transportation and want to get more information about the state of transportation in the U.S., I reached out to Vicki [Deguzman] and volunteered to write articles. Fortunately, I got the opportunity to work as an official student assistant at the end of the last semester, helping with administrative tasks and newsletters. I also attended several METRANS seminars last semester that provided transportation-concentrated students a really good chance to know so much up-to-date information in the world of transportation.”

Ji noted that METRANS has added a lot of value to her experience at USC. “For me,” she said, “information is one the most important factors to achieve success. And METRANS is a good place to gain that information. I find so many internship opportunities through the METRANS website and newsletters, find opportunities for networking at METRANS events, and enjoy being a part of the METRANS team. It gives me a sense of belonging and a source of support.”

Ji began her employment with METRANS on the administrative team, and recently expanded her duties to include a position working directly on a METRANS research project. “Recently, I got a research assistant position in METRANS, helping with a project about freight transportation in Los Angeles,” Ji shared.  Ji looks forward to the specific contributions she can make to the project, in particular where transportation mapping is concerned.  This position is especially good for me because “I am adept at GIS, especially ArcGIS, a very useful tool to do special analysis and map design. I am also interested in psychology and did research combining psychology and GIS to understand people’s behavior. The combination can be very interesting and meaningful.”

When asked about her aspirations, she said, “I want to contribute to work that can make people’s life more convenient. That is why I chose transportation as my concentration.”

Deepa Hegde

Deepa Hegde is a graduate student pursuing a Master of Science program in Business Analytics at the USC Marshall School of Business, and expects to graduate in December 2017. She is interested in Human Behavioral and Social Media Analytics and aspires to bring positive transformation to society through her problem-solving and analytical skills.  She can be reached at [email protected].