Kermit Wies serves as Deputy Executive Director for Research and Analysis with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP). With over 29 years experience in public-sector planning for Chicago, Kermit has acquired a highly practical perspective regarding the role and effectiveness of modeling, forecasting, and data in developing regional policy for this mature, yet thriving Midwestern metropolis. At CMAP, Kermit oversees the agency's forecasting activities, survey research program, and advanced model development, maintaining a hands-on role in several areas. Kermit holds a Master's of Urban Planning degree from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Public Policy Analysis from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Arash Mirzaei is the Senior Program Manager (Lead) of the Travel Model Development Program at the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), the MPO serving the Dallas-Fort Worth region. Mr. Mirzaei has worked with NCTCOG for the past 13 years.
Suzanne Childress is a Senior Travel Modeler at PSRC with nine years of experience. She manages the activity-based model for PSRC, and helped to develop Denver's activity-based model while working for DRCOG. She enjoys travel behavior research, software development, and model estimation. She holds a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences from Northwestern University and a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from Carleton College.
Kyung-Hwa Kim is the Performance Analysis and Monitoring Manager at the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). Before she joined ARC, she worked at Metro in Portland, Oregon for 20 years as a modeler. She has been with ARC for 6 years now.
At ARC, Kyung-Hwa manages the Air Quality and Climate Change program, Congestion Management Planning, Safety Planning, Data Management/Monitoring/Analysis, Social Equity Planning, Health Impact Studies, Performance Measurement, and Model Support for Regional Policy Analysis.
Ken Cervenka is a Community Planner at the FTA, where has worked since 2007. His major responsibilities include technical assistance to MPOs, transit providers, and other agencies interested in preparing transit rider "on-board" surveys and transit ridership forecasts. For forecasts submitted by project sponsors in support of New Starts and Small Starts projects, his responsibilities include a formal assessment of the plausibility of those forecasts for use in FTA's project evaluation process. Prior to joining FTA, Ken worked as the Travel Forecasting Manager at the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the MPO for the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Nathaniel Coley serves as an Economist in the Office of Infrastructure at the Federal Highway Administration in its headquarters in Washington, D.C. He served as a Bridge Engineer in the Bridge Division of the Maryland State Highway Administration and as the Asset Management Program Manager at the Maryland Department of Transportation where he helped integrate Asset Management Practices in the seven modes of transportation under its jurisdiction. Mr. Coley has a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering, an M.B.A. with a focus in Economics and Financial Management, and a Master's degree in Economics from Johns Hopkins University.
