SAURAV DEV BHATTA

University of Illinois at Chicago, Urban Planning and Policy Program (M/C 348)

412 S. Peoria Street, Chicago, IL 60607-7065

Tel.: (O) 312-996-2149, (H) 708-445-0179

 Fax: 312-413-2314, E-mail: sdbhatta@uic.edu

EDUCATION______________________________________________________________________   

Cornell University Ithaca, NY

Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning, GPA 4.0   August 2000

•   Dissertation on the relationship between human capital, income inequality, poverty, and economic development within and across the states and metropolitan areas of the US.

•   Dissertation Committee: Jose Lobo (chair), Porus Olpadwala, Sidney Saltzman, and Timothy Vogelsang.

•   Coursework included planning theory, urban and regional theory, development economics, micro/macro economic theory, environmental economics, econometrics, and planning methodologies.

                                           

Rutgers University          New Brunswick, NJ

Ph.D. student in Urban Planning, GPA 4.0   1995 - 1996

• Coursework included theories and techniques of regional planning, rural development strategies, employment and training policies in the US, third world social policy, planning methodologies, and GIS.

 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, GPA 5.0/5.0 May 1993

•   Thesis on image segmentation using Markov Random Fields.

•   Coursework included probability theory, stochastic systems, speech processing, discrete-time signal processing, and image processing.

 

Lafayette College Easton, PA

Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, GPA 3.9 June 1990

• Thesis on spectrum estimation for acoustic waves.

• Coursework included control theory, statistics, and economics.

 

AWARDS_________________________________________________________________________

 

• Graduate Teaching Assistantship, Cornell University. 1997-2000.

•  Sage Fellowship, Cornell University. 1996-1997.

•   Graduate School Fellowship, Rutgers University. 1995-1996.

•   Graduate Research Fellowship, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. 1990-1991.

•  Summa Cum Laude with Honors, Lafayette College. 1990.

•   Scholarship from the Peter F. Balk Scholarship Fund, Lafayette College. 1986-1990.

•  Dean's list every semester, Lafayette College. 1986-1990.

•  Summer Research Fellowship, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. 1989.

•  Tau Beta Pi  (engineering honor society), Lafayette College. 1989.

•  Eta Kappa Nu  (electrical engineering honor society), Lafayette College. 1989.

•  Phi Beta Kappa, Lafayette College. 1989.

•   Distinction Award for perfect score in Cambridge University 'O'-level Exams. 1984.

 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE__________________________________________________________

 

University of Illinois Chicago, IL

Assistant Professor. Urban Planning and Policy Program       August 2000 - Present

•   Responsibilities: teaching, advising students and conducting research.

• Courses for 2000-2001: “Economic Development II,” “Economic Analysis for Planning and Management,” and “Planning Skills: Computers, Methods and Communication.”

 

Cornell University Ithaca, NY

Instructor. Department of City and Regional Planning Fall  1999-Spring 2000

•   Designed and taught two undergraduate courses: "Introduction to Statistical Reasoning for Urban and Regional Analysis," and "Introduction to Quantitative Methods for the Analysis of Public Policy."

•   Co-taught a graduate course: " Local Economic Policy Field Workshop.”

Lecturer. Department of City and Regional Planning     Summer 1999

• Designed and taught a graduate/undergraduate course: "Statistical and Mathematical Concepts for Planning."

Co-instructor. Department of City and Regional Planning Fall 1998

•   Taught one third of the graduate course: "Methods of Regional Science and Planning I." Topics included input-output analysis, social accounting matrices, and computable general equilibrium models.

Teaching Assistant. Department of City and Regional Planning Fall 1997, Spring 1998 & 1999

•   Graduate course: "Methods of Regional Science and Planning II."

•   Graduate course: "Introduction to Public Policy Analysis and Management."

•   Responsibilities included teaching sections, preparing and grading homework/exam problems and solutions.

 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA

Teaching Assistant. Department of Electrical Engineering      Spring 1992-Spring 1993

•   Graduate course: "Two Dimensional Signal and Image Processing."

•   Graduate/undergraduate course: "Fundamentals of Probability Theory."

•   Responsibilities included conducting recitations, tutorial and quiz reviews, and preparing exam problems, homework problems and solutions.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE__________________________________________________________

 

University of Illinois Chicago, IL

Assistant Professor. Urban Planning and Policy Program       August 2000 - Present

• Current research projects: 
exploration of the components of economic change in certain regions and metropolitan areas of Illinois and New York;
examination of the relationship between globalization and world income inequality;
benefit-cost analysis of battery operated mass transit vehicles in Kathmandu, Nepal.    

 

Cornell University Ithaca, NY

      Research Assistant. Department of City and Regional Planning     Summer 1999

• Helped prepare a report on returns to investments in transportation infrastructure for the New York Department of Transportation.   

 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA

Research Assistant. Lincoln Laboratory       Spring 1992-Spring 1993

• Developed an image segmentation technique for fully polarimetric synthetic radar imagery with the Machine Intelligence and Technology Group.

 

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution      Woods Hole, MA

Research Assistant. Acoustic Group    Summers 1989, 1990, 1991

• Studied and implemented spectrum estimation and noise cancellation techniques to identify the modes of shallow water acoustic waves.

 

PRIVATE SECTOR WORK EXPERIENCE____________________________________________

 

Union Bank of Switzerland     Zurich, Switzerland

Analyst. Private Banking and Asset Management     1993 -1995

•   Designed an object-oriented new generation portfolio performance measurement system, and delivered a prototype graphical user interface.

•   Participated in an inter-departmental task-force to evaluate and recommend strategic 4GL development tools for decision-support systems development.

• Performed detailed analysis of benchmark index requirements and availability for Private Banking Switzerland and Asset Management Zurich.

• Analyzed the characteristics of financial instruments to uniquely identify them within the schemes used for storing business transactions at the bank.

 

 

 

REFEREED PUBLICATIONS_______________________________________________________

 

Bhatta, S. D. “Are Inequality and Poverty Harmful for  Economic Growth: Evidence from US Metropolitan Statistical Areas,” (forthcoming in Journal of Urban Affairs).

Bhatta, S. D. and J. Lobo (2000) “Human Capital and Per Capita Product: A Comparison of U.S. States,”  Papers in Regional Science, 79(4), October, 393-411.

Rajan, S. D. and S. D. Bhatta (1993) “Evaluation of High Resolution Frequency Estimation Methods for Determining Frequencies of Eigenmodes in Shallow Water Acoustic Field”, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 93 (1), January, 378-389.

 

OTHER PUBLICATIONS___________________________________________________________

 

Bhatta, S. D. (1999) “A Time-Series Analysis of the Relationship between Global Income Inequality and Opennes to Trade: 1960-1989,” Working Papers in Planning, No. 192, December. Ithaca: Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University.

Bhatta, S. D., M. Drennan and J. Lobo (1999) “An Examination of Spatial Income Inequality and Poverty Across the Metropolitan Areas of the United States, 1969-1996,” Working Papers in Planning, No. 184, May. Ithaca: Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University.

Bhatta, S. D. (1998) “Reviewing the Evidence on Endogenous Growth,” Working Papers in Planning, No. 178, November. Ithaca: Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University.

Bhatta, S. D. and S. Saltzman (1998) “Analysis of Kodak’s Role in the Rochester Metropolitan Economy Using a Social Accounting Matrix,” Working Papers in Planning, No. 177, October. Ithaca: Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University.

Bhatta, S. D. (1997) “Translating Development Concepts into Practice: A Case Study of Nepal,” Working Papers in Planning, No. 181, April. Ithaca: Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University.

Bhatta, S. D. and J. G. Verly (1994) “Applications of Markov Random Field Techniques to the Segmentation of Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery”, MIT Lincoln Laboratory Technical Report, TR-988.

 

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS___________________________________________________

 

Bhatta, S. D. (2000) “A Time-Series Analysis of the Relationship between Global Income Inequality and Opennes to Trade: 1960-1989,” presented  at the ACSP 42nd Annual Conference, November 2000.

Bhatta, S. D (1999) “Are Inequality and Poverty Harmful for  Economic Growth: Evidence from US Metropolitan Statistical Areas”, presented  at the ACSP 41st Annual Conference, October 1999, and the 46th North American Meetings of  RSAI, November 1999.

Bhatta, S. D., M. Drennan and J. Lobo (1999) “An Examination of Spatial Income Inequality and Poverty Across the Metropolitan Areas of the United States, 1969-1996,” presented at the Northeast Regional Science 21st Annual Conference, May 1999.

Bhatta, S. D. and J. Lobo (1998). “Human Capital and Per Capita Product: A Comparison of U.S. States,” presented at the 45th North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International (RSAI), November 1998.

 

RESEARCH INTERESTS___________________________________________________________

• Determinants of inequality and poverty in the urban and rural areas of both developing and industrialized countries, and strategies/policies for dealing with these phenomena. 

• Relationship between technological development in general, and information technology in particular, and  urban poverty, income inequality, and spatial income inequality.  

• Human capital, technological development, and economic development.

•            Regional, local and community economic development.

• Development planning and regional planning in South Asia, with special focus on Nepal.

•            Viability of alternative technologies in developing countries.  

 

AREAS OF TEACHING COMPETENCY______________________________________________

• Development and theory of urban planning.

• Local and community economic development.

• Urban economics, and urban and regional growth theory.

• Public and spatial economics for planners, and intermediate micro/macro economics.

• International development planning and development economics.

• Poverty and inequality in the industrialized and developing countries.

• Quantitative techniques for planning and policy analysis: mathematics for planners, statistical reasoning, regression techniques, linear programming, and cost-benefit analysis.

• Methods of regional science and planning: input-output, SAM and CGE-based techniques.

• Introductory geographical information systems and information technology.

 

PROFICIENCIES__________________________________________________________________

           

• Programming Languages:  C, C++, Smalltalk, FORTRAN, BASIC.

• Softwares/Operating Systems: ARC/INFO, ArcView, SAS, Eviews, Access, PowerPoint, Excel, Word, UNIX, Windows, Mac OS.

• Languages: Fluent in English and Nepali. Good knowledge of Hindi. Familiar with German.

 

ACTIVITIES______________________________________________________________________

 

• Founding and Executive Committee Member, Center for Social Research and Development, Kathmandu, Nepal. 1994 - present.

•            President, Nepal Association at Cornell. 1996-1997.

•            Executive Committee Member, Greater Boston Nepali Community. 1991-1993.

•            Secretary, Tau Beta Pi publication, Lafayette College. 1989-90.