Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series of feature stories highlighting female students and faculty as Florida Poly celebrates Women’s History Month.
Dr. Sravani Vadlamani was born in India where she recognized firsthand the importance of having an efficient transportation system. Now an assistant professor within Florida Polytechnic University’s Department of Data Science, she has already amassed a rich academic and industry background and is helping to prepare tomorrow’s transportation engineers.
“That’s when I decided to pursue transportation engineering. That’s the reason I came to the U.S.,” said Vadlamani of the transportation structure she grew up with in India. “There are a lot more people and a lot more cars, and there is not enough capacity on the roads. Especially with all of the connected and autonomous vehicles coming into play, we need to figure out how our existing infrastructure works to accommodate that.”
After earning a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in India in 2007, Vadlamani came to the United States and attended graduate school at Arizona State University. She obtained master’s degrees in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and civil engineering and then spent two years as a traffic engineer for the Maryland State Highway Administration. Armed with that industry experience, she returned to Arizona State and earned a Ph.D. in civil engineering.
Vadlamani joined the Florida Poly faculty in fall 2018. In addition to teaching classes ranging from statistics to concepts and methods, she’s also overseeing four capstone projects sponsored by Lakeland Regional Health. One of those explores the efficiency of patient transportation within a hospital setting.
“We are looking at optimum ways to transport people in the shortest amount of time, she said. “It’s going to help the patients because they won’t have to wait so long to get their tests completed, and the staff can serve more patients.”
It’s Vadlamani’s goal to blend her academic and industry experience in transportation, GIS, and data analysis to help current and future Florida Poly students achieve their dreams.
“What excites me most is teaching students new things that help them learn and grow both professionally and personally,’ she added. “They are the ones who are going to transform the world.”
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