Sharon Di

Sharon Di: Academic Overview

Sharon Di is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University. She holds affiliations with the Data Science Institute (DSI), serving as Co-Chair of the Smart Cities initiative. Her research bridges theoretical frameworks with practical applications in transportation systems, leveraging emerging technologies like AI, data analytics, and cyber-physical systems to enhance infrastructure resilience and urban mobility efficiency.

Research Focus: Di's work emphasizes travel behavior analysis during disruptions (e.g., natural disasters), optimization of traffic networks, and the integration of autonomous vehicles and ride-sharing services. Her methodologies include game theory, reinforcement learning, and physics-informed deep learning applied to large-scale sensor data. Recent projects explore digital twins for urban planning and causal inference in transportation decision-making.

Key Contributions: Di has pioneered frameworks for adaptive traffic signal control, resilient infrastructure design, and multimodal mobility modeling. Her lab, DitectLab (website), develops AI-driven solutions for smart cities, with applications in real-time traffic management and safety optimization. She also serves on the Center for Smart Cities committee within Columbia's Data Science Institute.