Monica Menendez

Associate Dean for Graduate Programs; Director of the Research Center for Interacting Urban Networks (CITIES); Professor of Civil and Urban Engineering Affiliation: NYU Abu Dhabi
Education: PhD University of California, Berkeley

Research Websites: Center for the Interacting Urban Networks (CITIES)

Research Areas: monitoring, modeling, and control of multimodal transportation systems, considering new technologies and data sources


Monica Menendez is the Associate Dean of Engineering for Graduate Affairs and a Professor of Civil and Urban Engineering at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), as well as a Global Network Professor of Civil and Urban Engineering at the Tandon School of Engineering in New York University (NYU). She is also the Director and Lead PI of the NYUAD Research Center for Interacting Urban Networks (CITIES); and the recipient of the NYUAD Distinguished Research Award for 2021.

Between 2010 and 2017, Monica was the Director of the research group Traffic Engineering at ETH Zurich. Prior to that, she was a management consultant at Bain & Company. She joined Bain after receiving a PhD and a MSc in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley in 2006. During her studies there, she received, among other awards, an NSF Fellowship and the Gordon F. Newell Award. In total, she is the recipient of more than 20 scholarships and awards from well-known and prestigious organizations, professional societies, and universities. Monica also holds a dual degree in Civil Engineering and Architectural Engineering from the University of Miami, from where she graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2002.

Her research interests include monitoring, modeling, and control of multimodal transportation systems, considering new technologies and data sources. She is an active reviewer for over 20 journals, and a member of multiple editorial boards for top journals in Transportation. She is also a member of a number of international organizations, including the International Advisory Committee of the International Symposium on Transportation and Traffic Theory (ISTTT), and the Mohammed bin Rashid Academy of Scientists (MBRAS). Monica is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed journal publications and over 200 conference contributions, book chapters, editorials, and technical reports. In the last five years, five of the papers that she has co-authored, have received best-paper awards.

Courses Taught