Nicolò Daina

Nicolò Daina

Nicolò Daina studies the behavior of users in integrated transportation and energy systems. As transportation is increasingly electrified, understanding the travel and charging choices of electric vehicle drivers and users of shared electric mobility (e-mobility) systems is crucial for the planning and operation of mobility and charging services. Ultimately, quantitative models of users’ behavior enable the estimation of local and regional demand impinging on transportation and electricity networks and the development of approaches to manage the demand so that such networks can operate efficiently.

Modelling individual choice behavior when interacting with complex technological systems is a challenging task that requires mathematical approaches able to draw insights from both theories of choice behavior and from heterogeneous data sources.  Dr. Daina uses data science approaches and econometric techniques to empirically model the behavior of users of integrated transportation end energy systems under different theoretical frameworks. To estimate such models, Dr. Daina uses data from IoT devices (e.g. charging point and vehicles data loggers) embedded in operational systems and technological trials and users’ survey data. To anticipate potential users’ behavior in new and emerging transportation and energy services, Dr. Daina designs and deploys choice experiments that enable to elicit data on users’ preferences in hypothetical settings, before novel transportation and smart energy technologies, services or policies are even deployed.

By developing realistic behavioral models and embedding them in systems’ simulation and optimization, Dr Daina’s research aims to exploit the flexibility and the cooperation of end users in both planning and operations of integrated transportation and energy systems as they transition to net-zero.

Dr. Daina received his BSc and MSc in aerospace engineering from Politecnico di Torino, and his Msc in renewable energy and energy efficiency from Politecnico di Milano. Dr Daina holds a PhD in Transportation from Imperial College London. Before joining Columbia University as Research Scientist at Columbia Engineering and the SIPA Centre on Global Energy Policy, Dr Daina held positions at University of Strathclyde (Chancellor's Fellow and Lecturer) and Imperial College London.

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London (2014-2017)

  • Chancellor’s Fellow / Lecturer (eq. to assistant professor) in Transport Policy, School of Government and Public Policy, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow (2021)
  • Research Fellow, Transport and Energy Systems, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London (2017-2021)
  • Transportation Research Board’s Standing Committee on Alternative Fuels and Technologies
  • Honorary lecturer, School of Government and Public Policy, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
  • International EV Policy Council, (Coordinated by the Plug-in Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Research Center, UC Davis)
  •  Honorary lecturer, School of Government and Public Policy, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
  •  Grantham Institute for Climate Change PhD Scholarship (2010-2014)

Selected Publications

  • Manca, F., Daina, N., Sivakumar, A., Xin Yi, J. W., Zavitsas, K., Gemini, G., Vegetti, I., Dargan, L., & Marchet, F. (2021), Using digital social market applications to incentivise active travel: Empirical analysis of a smart city initiative, Sustainable Cities and Society, ISSN:2210-6707
  • Ahadi, R., Ketter, W., Collins, J., Daina, N., (2021) Siting and sizing of charging infrastructure for shared autonomous electric fleets, Proceedings of the International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, AAMAS, 2021
  • Manca, F., Sivakumar, A., Daina, N., Axsen, J., Polak, J.W., (2020). Modelling the influence of peers’ attitudes on choice behaviour: theory and empirical application on electric vehicle preferences, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol: 140, Pages: 278-298, ISSN: 0191-2607.
  • Daina, N., (2018), Transport-Energy Systems: Modelling the User variable, Nature Energy, vol. 3, pp. 88–89.
  • Daina, N., Sivakumar, A. & Polak, J. W. (2017), Electric vehicle charging choices: Modelling and implications for smart charging services, Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, vol. 81, pp. 36-56.
  • Daina, N., Sivakumar, A. & Polak, J. W. (2017), Modelling electric vehicles use: a survey on the methods. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 68, pp. 447-460.
  • Daina, N., Sivakumar, A. & Polak, J. W. (2015), Patent and latent predictors of electric vehicle charging behaviour. Transportation Research Records, vol. 2502, 116-123.

An extended list of Dr Daina’s publications is available here: Daina, Nicolò - Author details - Scopus