About Me
I hold a MSc. in Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Systems program in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. My research interests include infrastructure, statistics, optimization and drawing the links to practice in public policy with decision theory. I earned my degree with the Multi Hazard Approach to Engineering Group in developing network models to optimize infrastructure investments subject to catastrophic hazards. I also investigated the social dimensions of transportation in Latin America and the Caribbean along with the Inter American Development Bank, analyzing how transit and shared mobility may help foster an equitable and sustainable mobility landscape for the region. Currently I am a PhD researcher with the CST group at Eindhoven University of Technology working on simulation models to predict and improve the charging infrastructure requirements for land transport.
Education
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Master of Science in Civil Engineering
2018 - 2020
Concentration: Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Systems
Minor 1: Probabilistic Analysis and Design
Minor 2: Transportation and Logistics
Selected courses: Decision and Risk Analyisis, Uncertainty Quantification, Machine Learning for Operations Research, Public Transit Systems, Logistic Systems Analysis
University of Buenos Aires
Professional Engineering Degree in Civil Engineering
2010 - 2016
Concentration: Structural Engineering
Minor 1: Water Resources Engineering
Minor 2: Transportation Engineering
Selected courses: Structural Analysis, Finite Element Methods, Dam Engineering, Pavement Design, Water Resources Planning, Pavement Analysis & Design
Experience
Eindhoven University of Technology
PhD Researcher
July 2022 - Present
• Research on the combined optimization of charging solutions for electric land logistics (considering stakeholders in both the transportation and electric provision chains) with agent-based modelling
• Collaboration with industrial partners in the development of a tool integrating vehicle technology and operational planning with charging infrastructure for optimal societal decision making
• Active literature review on multi actor systems, user incentives for energy and mobility transitions, and electric transport technology advances
Inter-American Development Bank
Transportation Research Consultant
August 2020 - August 2022
• New technologies in transportation: Active research on shared mobility services and their role in LAC urban mobility. How can these systems complement transit systems and how do they increase the accessibility of vulnerable groups
• Financial sustainability of public transit operators: Review of best practices and emerging financial instruments. Surveying, data analysis, and interviews to gauge the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on public transit operators’ finances
• Analysis of equity in urban transportation: Research, data analysis, modeling, and case study analysis on the role of public transportation coverage and quality in urban equity. Support for flagship report on inclusive transportation systems
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Graduate Research Assistant
August 2018 - August 2020
• Specialization in Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Systems: Modern analysis and planning of civil infrastructure. Coursework focused on optimization, risk/resilience evaluation, and transportation systems analysis leveraging modern statistical techniques
• Practical metrics for network infrastructure reliability: Developed literature review, methodology, and code for reliability assessment of network infrastructure under spatial hazards. Procedure combined multi-commodity flow optimization and Markov chain Monte-Carlo simulations
Abnormal Load Engineering
Solutions Engineer
March 2016 - August 2018
• Urban Rail Viaduct Installations: Proposed and budgeted bespoke solutions for the construction of urban viaducts in the heart of Buenos Aires, acquiring contracts and multiple new clients. Conducted and participated in client meetings, drafting, preliminary calculations, and contract write-ups
• Logistic studies and consulting: Collaborated in designing, budgeting, and deploying logistic solutions for wind farms, gas power plants, industrial components, and even satellites. Coordinated commercial executives, project engineers, and draughtsmen for proposals and final reports
• Business development: Developed key relationships with major construction firms in Civil Infrastructure and Power Generation. Coordinated and supported technical consulting with public authorities for project-specific solutions
Special Studies and Projects
Junior Project Engineer
June 2013 - July 2014
• National Route N°18 (Paraná-Concordia): Supported the engineering team in project control, designing, and drafting with Civil3D. Collaborated in preparing documentation for the execution stage
• Provincial Route N°23 (Comallo - Pilcaniyeu): Developed Excel worksheets for budgeting and quantity estimations in project control. Performed preliminary traffic calculations and pavement layer structural design
Universidad de Buenos Aires
Teaching Assistant
March 2013 - March 2014
• Non-Traditional Materials in Construction: Helped deliver lectures on viscoelasticity, prepared experiments, and graded coursework for a course introducing polymer-based materials in civil engineering
Publications and Presentations
Thesis
- Bertucci, J.P., On practical metrics for network infrastructure reliability analysis, M.Sc. thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2020.
Presentations
- Bertucci, J.P., Impact of COVID-19 on Public Transit Operators, Workshop de executores, IDB, Brasil (2021).
- Bertucci, J.P., Reliability metrics, Multi-Hazard Approach to Engineering Group, UIUC, IL (2020).
- Bertucci, J.P., Pavement Sustainability Analysis, Sustainability Theory in Engineering, UIUC, IL (2018).
Projects
Although most reliability analysis for networks uses concepts from graph theory to assess reliability, these metrics fall short when informing investment decisions on practical quantities. Alternatively, flow metrics are used but require assumptions on the flow mechanics and become difficult to analyze probabilistically in reasonable computational time. This work aims to condense all these aspects relevant to practical network infrastructure resilience in a single approach. More info here.
Capstone project for my professional engineering degree at the University of Buenos Aires. Includes the detail calculations and drawings for the provision of drinkable water, sanitation and storm sewers for the city of San Antonio de Areco. Started with site visits and meetings with local authorities and ended with full calculations with EPA and SWMM, and design drawings with CIVIL3D and WaterCAD. More info here.
Main results from the consolidated household travel surveys of Bogota, Montevideo, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Santiago and Buenos Aires. Within the analyses there is a general overview of the variables considered and information on the surveys geographic coverage. Sample equity analyses and main flows by mode are produced and normalized by city volumes. More info here.
Final project for Pavement Mantainence and Rehabilitation. Using the World Bank’s opensource software RoadLabPro we sought to leverage distributed measurments of roughness with cellphone accelerometer data using machine learning techniques. This could be used for structural health monitoring and predictive mantainance by municipal agencies. More info here.
Honors & Awards
- Fulbright Scholar
- Argentinian Presidential Fellowship in Science and Technology