Center for Environmental Research and Technology

Professor Barth received his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering/Computer Science from the University of Colorado in 1984, and M.S. (1985) and Ph.D. (1990) degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Professor Barth was also a member of the technical staff in the Advanced Technologies Division of General Research Corporation, Santa Barbara from 1985 to 1986. From 1986 to 1987 he conducted research at the University of Tokyo as a visiting research student. Upon completion of his Ph.D., Professor Barth was a visiting researcher at Osaka University, Japan, conducting research in systems engineering from 1989 to 1991. Dr. Barth joined the University of California-Riverside in 1991, conducting research in Electrical Engineering and at the Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), where he is currently Director and the Yeager Families Chair. Professor Barth’s research focuses on applying engineering system concepts and automation technology to Transportation Systems, and in particular how it relates to energy and air quality issues. His current research interests include Intelligent Transportation Systems, Vehicle Activity Analysis, Transportation/ Emissions Modeling, Electric Vehicle Technology, and Advanced Sensing and Control. Professor Barth is active in the U.S. Transportation Research Board currently serving on the Transportation and Air Quality Committee and the Intelligent Transportation Systems Committee. He was awarded the TRB Pyke Johnson Award for TRB outstanding paper in 2007. In 2011, he was one of the winners of the Connected Vehicle Technology Challenge sponsored by U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). He has also served on a number of National Research Council (NRC) committees. Professor Barth has also been very active within IEEE Intelligent Transportation System Society for many years, participating in their conferences as a presenter, invited session organizer, session moderator, program chair, associate editor of the Transactions of ITS, and member of the IEEE ITSS Board of Governors. He was the IEEE ITSS Vice President for Conferences from 2011-2012, President-Elect for 2013, President for 2014-2015, and Past-President for 2016. He recently received the IEEE ITSS Outstanding Research Award.

Dr. Tao Huai is chief of the Freight Emissions Testing and Research Branch in the Mobile Source Laboratory Division at the California Air Resources Board. Over the past sixteen years, Tao has overseen the development of regulations requiring lower global-warming potential automotive refrigerants, conducted research studies assessing the effectiveness of light- and heavy- duty vehicle advanced emission control technologies, and supported adoption of the ultralow particulate matter standards for the Advanced Clean Car Regulation. Tao is currently leading the effort to develop a comprehensive and unified emissions testing and research program for heavy-duty trucks and other freight related sources to support ARB’s mobile source regulatory programs and sustainable freight strategies.

Tao earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Thermal Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Management Science and Engineering from Beijing’s Tsinghua University, followed by a Ph.D. in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Riverside. Tao is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles.                                                                                                                     

­Joseph Silva is the CEO & Co-Founder at VeriToll where he is pioneering the next generation of transportation and mobility solutions for public and private clients. Over the past decade, Joseph has transformed mobility in the Northern Virginia and Washington DC region through the development of the Express Lanes network. He integrated and engineered many of the core safety and revenue-critical systems that currently serve the millions of D.C. region drivers that use the I- 495, I-95 & I-395 Express Lanes.

Joseph has recently focused his work on modernizing revenue collection systems for roads and bridges. In the next decade, the looming shift to electric vehicle technology will force states and local governments to find alternative funding sources for our nation's most critical transportation infrastructure due to the gas tax collapsing. The technology platforms pioneered by Joseph, such as GoToll and CrowdToll, will be at the forefront of the next-generation revenue solutions that transform how state and local governments fund our infrastructure sustainably.

Joseph received his M.S. in Electrical Engineering at the University of California Riverside and has filed over seven patents in the past decade. Joseph is applying the knowledge and expertise developed at UCR to pursue his life's mission to solve mobility challenges for those in poverty through improving opportunity and access with creative payment solutions.

Dr. Heather Trajano is an Associate Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of British Columbia (Canada). She earned her B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering, from the University of Alberta (Canada) in 2007. She next earned a Ph.D. in Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of California Riverside and joined UBC immediately after completion of her Ph.D. in 2012. Dr. Trajano specializes in the fractionation of woody biomass to produce sustainable fuels, chemicals and materials. She frequently works in multidisciplinary teams in order to address complex biorefining problems through a combination of engineering analysis, biochemical and chemical characterization, and numerical modeling for realistic biomass substrates in collaboration with industrial partners. Dr. Trajano is currently a member of the academic-industrial research consortium, Energy Reduction in Mechanical Pulping: Understanding Energy Reduction and Developing Higher-Value Markets for Mechanical Pulps. Within this consortium, she is investigating methods to produce novel paper products as well as processes to recover and upgrade extractives from mechanical pulp mills. She has published numerous articles in journals such as ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, Bioresource Technology, and Biotechnology for Biofuels. Dr. Trajano is a recipient of the Killam Faculty Research Fellowship (2019), one of UBC’s top awards for faculty members. 

Dr. Aniket Sawant is an innovator, multidimensional problem-solver, and forever an engineer & researcher at heart. As co-founder and CTO of Threadeo, Aniket is helping drive new ways of managing, delivering, and paying for digital content in the legal industry. Under his hands-on leadership, Aniket’s team has invented algorithms and components for workflow optimization in the legal digital content space, including AI transcription and advanced collaboration. As CTO, Aniket defines the product roadmap and sets the direction on leveraging cutting-edge concepts such as AI and NFTs to extract insights from, and clarify ownership of, digital content.

Prior to Threadeo, Aniket conducted product development and project management for the development of advanced app- and server-side technology platforms for the mining, energy, and construction industries. He also served as a technical lead for providing clean technology solutions for a Fortune 100 engine & equipment manufacturer.

Aniket is the proud recipient of a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering with a 4.0 GPA from the University of California, Riverside, where he received an Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, a Dean’s Fellowship, and a Ford Fellowship. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Mumbai, and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Jaclyn DeMartini is a Senior Research Scientist in the Nutrition and Biosciences division at IFF (formerly Genencor/DuPont). She graduated from UC Davis in 2007 with a B.S. in Biological Systems Engineering and then obtained her Ph.D. from UC Riverside in Chemical and Environmental Engineering, studying “Chemical and structural features of plants that contribute to biomass recalcitrance.” She joined Genencor in 2012, working for four years on DuPont’s Cellulosic Ethanol project, before shifting to a business development role directing the company’s biogas enzyme initiative. She currently leads the Grain Applications Research Group in Palo Alto, CA, and directs the company’s coproducts program to evaluate novel enzyme and microbial technologies that improve the value and sustainability of coproducts from the grain processing industry.

Assistant Professor of Engineering, California State University-Bakersfield

Dr. Zhongzhe Liu is currently an Assistant Professor of Engineering at California State University, Bakersfield. Dr. Liu worked in the Advanced Thermochemical Research Lab from 2009 to 2013 and developed the sorption-enhanced CE-CERT steam hydrogasification technology. He earned his Ph.D. degree in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from UC Riverside in 2014. Dr. Liu's global research interest is centered on the beneficial reuse of waste streams for energy and resource recovery.

Dr. Lakshmi Jayaram is a Senior Managing Consultant in Ramboll’s Air Quality Practice with over twelve years of experience in air quality management and climate change issues. She has substantial expertise in developing criteria air pollutant and greenhouse gas emission inventories, evaluating control technologies, air permitting and compliance including CEQA, air dispersion modeling, and health risk assessments. Her clients span a broad range of industries including transportation agencies, seaports, airports, utilities, commercial and residential developers, and manufacturing facilities. She is a PhD Chemical and Environmental Engineer (UC Riverside) and a Certified Permitting Professional in the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). She is currently serving as the Chair on FuturePorts Board of Directors. She also represents FuturePorts on the SCAQMD’s Air Quality Management Plan Advisory Group.  

Dr. Ziran Wang is currently a Principal Researcher at Toyota North America R&D, an author of more than 30 refereed papers, and an inventor of more than 30 U.S. patent applications. He received the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Riverside in 2019, advised by Dr. Matthew Barth and Dr. Guoyuan Wu. Dr. Wang’s research has focused on digital twin, connected and automated vehicles, and intelligent transportation systems. He serves as an associate editor of SAE Journal of Connected and Automated Vehicles, and Frontiers in Sustainable Cities-Urban Transportation Systems and Mobility. Dr. Wang is the founding chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on “IoT in ITS”, and a committee member of four other technical committees across IEEE and SAE.