Cathy Wu

Cathy Wu is the Class of 1954 Career Development Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT, affiliated with the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS). Her research bridges machine learning, optimization, and urban systems, with a focus on mixed autonomy systems in mobility. She holds degrees from MIT (B.S., M.Eng in EECS) and a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley (EECS).

Education:

• B.S. and M.Eng in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT (2012-2013)
• Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, UC Berkeley (2018)

Research Interests:

• Reinforcement Learning and Machine Learning
• Large-scale Optimization and Control Theory
• Mobility Systems and Urban Infrastructure
• Implications of AI and Automation

Her work emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, involving transportation, computer science, and public policy. She founded the Interdisciplinary Research Initiative within the ACM Future of Computing Academy to advance cross-disciplinary computing research.

Key Projects: Includes Flow (open-source RL framework for traffic control), eco-driving incentive mechanisms, and mixed autonomy traffic optimization. Her articles address congestion mitigation, autonomous vehicle integration, and scalable supervision strategies.

Awards: Recipient of fellowships, best paper awards, and teaching honors (specific names unlisted).

Engagement: Collaborations with institutions like Microsoft Research, OpenAI, and Caltrans. Active in policy-oriented initiatives and education through IDSS programs.