The New England University Transportation Center (NEUTC) is proud to announce our 2025 Students of the Year from each of our consortium members.
This year’s honorees are:
Sophia Ashebir, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Daniel Baker, University of Connecticut
Lexyanna Rivera, Holyoke Community College
Amir Taherkhani, University of New Hampshire
Harrison Rex, Bunker Hill Community College
Gavin Newton, Norwich University
Each of these students was nominated by members of our consortium in recognition of their exceptional dedication, innovative work, and meaningful contributions to NEUTC and to the broader fields of transportation and engineering. Their achievements reflect the strength and promise of the next generation of leaders in our industry.
Congratulations to all of this year’s recipients. Your hard work continues to inspire our community and advance the future of transportation.
Continue reading to learn more about this year’s honorees:
Sophia Ashebir
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sophia Ashebir is a master’s candidate in City Planning at MIT and a Graduate Research Assistant at the MIT AgeLab, where she conducts mixed-methods research on aging, transportation, and health equity, and coordinates the 85+ Lifestyle Leaders panel and the Aging and Equity Speaker Series. Previously, she served as a Technical Associate at the AgeLab (2021–2024).
Her research has been published in journals including Research on Aging, Vaccine, JMIR Aging, and the Journal of Financial Planning. She has presented at national conferences including the Gerontological Society of America and the American Society on Aging, and received the 2023 AFCPE Outstanding Symposium Research Paper Award.
Ashebir has worked on urban transportation and technology initiatives with the City of Boston, including analyzing school bus routes for traffic signal priority as a Summer Fellow with the Office of Emerging Technology (2025), evaluating accessible transportation programs with the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics (2021), and collecting data as a data collector with the Boston MPO (2023-2025). She also serves as a tutor with The Literacy Project at Cambridge Public Library and mentors high school students completing their AP Capstone projects through the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition, and leads Rural MIT, a student-organized club in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning that focuses on rural planning advocacy in both a domestic and international context.
Daniel Baker
University of Connecticut
Daniel Baker is a 2nd year master’s student at the University of Connecticut studying Explainable AI in Professor Jinbo Bi's lab. He received his bachelor’s degree at the University of Connecticut studying computer science with minors in math and astrophysics. His research focuses on using large language models to explain the decision-making process behind autonomous vehicle behaviors in an effort to improve cognitive trust in users. He has presented this research as a poster in both the MassDOT Transportation Innovation Conference and the NEUTC Symposium. He received the Sarah Levitan Larie Computer Science & Engineering Fellowship from University of Connecticut’s School of Computing this spring.
Lexyanna Rivera
Holyoke Community College
As a first-generation college student, Lexyanna has successfully overcome multiple obstacles on her pathway to becoming a Latina in engineering. She is hardworking, committed to her coursework, and actively participates in campus activities. Lexy participated in the UMass RIDE REU program in the summer of 2025. She shared that it was a transformative experience and reinforced her desire to pursue her degree in engineering. Lexy is currently serving in the role of STEM Mentor where she provides support to STEM students visiting HCC's Innovation Lab.
Amir Taherkhani
University of New Hampshire
Amir has made exceptional contributions to advancing the use of artificial intelligence in transportation safety. Supported by NEUTC, he developed a computer vision framework that automatically detects and tracks both pedestrians and vehicles from roadway camera footage. The system maps their movements onto a plan-view trajectory map and predicts future motion paths, enabling real-time alerts for potential collisions. Beyond immediate safety applications, the framework also supports behavioral analysis of pedestrian movement patterns, providing valuable insights for improving traffic safety and urban planning.
In addition to his technical achievements, Amir has demonstrated strong leadership in knowledge dissemination. He organized a national workshop on the application of AI in roadway safety that brought together more than 70 participants from across the country, fostering collaboration between academia, industry, and public agencies. His initiative, innovation, and commitment to transportation safety embody the spirit of the NEUTC Student of the Year award.
Harrison Rex
Bunker Hill Community College
Originally from Uganda, Harrison Rex is currently studying Environmental Science and Engineering at Bunker Hill Community College. He plans to transfer to a four-year university to study Civil and Environmental Engineering. He has worked in the wastewater treatment field since 2008 and is a proud father of three. He completed our summer program with a GIS course.
Gavin Newton
Norwich University
Gavin Newton is a senior Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) student at Norwich University (NU). Prior to beginning his studies in ECE, he graduated from NU with a B.S. in Computer Science. Gavin has worked with Dr. Michael Cross, analyzing battery electric vehicle performance data collected for the NEUTC-sponsored project at NU. Gavin also worked with Dr. Cross to present their autonomous vehicle research effort at the 2025 VTAOT Research & Innovation Symposium held in Barre, VT, this fall.