Dr. Timothy Brathwaite earned the first place 2018 Eric Pas Dissertation Prize from the International Association for Travel Behavior, for his dissertation "The Holy Trinity: Blending Statistics, Machine Learning and Discrete Choice, with Applications to Strategic Bicycle Planning." Brathwaite is the only person to earn the first place award while being a student at UC Berkeley. He was presented the award at the 99th annual Transportation Research Board meeting in January 2020.
Since 1998, the Eric Pas Dissertation Prize has been awarded annually to the individual whose dissertation makes the greatest impact among those nominated. Brathwaite's dissertation makes methodological improvements to discrete choice models to account for previously omitted roadway variables, traveler irrationality, and the low number of cyclists represented in household travel surveys. Award of the Eric Pas Dissertation Prize highlights exceptional new talent within the field of travel behavior research.
Brathwaite earned his Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering in 2018, under the supervision of Professor Joan Walker. During his time at UC Berkeley, Brathwaite was the UCCONNECT Outstanding Graduate Student of 2016 and Outstanding Student of the Year 2016-17 and an Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award for 2015-16. He currently works as a data scientist at Stitch Fix.
Congrats, Dr. Brathwaite!