Smart Cities
for Good

Smart Cities for Good (SCG) is a research group that aims to solve urban social and environmental challenges through smart city technologies.

Goals

Goal #1

We aim to advance our fundamental understanding of the complex role of human mobility in people’s exposure to environmental factors and health-promoting environments by using and developing innovative geospatial data science methods.

Challenges

Smart City
Technologies

Innovative Geospatial Data Science Methods
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Geospatial Big Data
Smart Sensor
High-performance Computing
Internet of Things (IoT)

Research
Grants

As of 2026, I have contributed to securing approximately $10.49 million in externally funded research support as PI or Co-PI. Across these projects, my share totals approximately $588,640 in research funding and support.

External Grants

National Institutes of Health (NIH/NIDA #RM1DA064594) GEO IMPACT: Geo-Targeted Implementation of a Novel Mobile Pharmacy and Clinic Healthcare Delivery Model with Community Health Workers for Prevention, Care, and Treatment of HIV and Substance Use (~$10.2 M, Site PI. Kim’s Share: USD 449,980, Subaward through Yale University)
National Science Foundation. IUCRC Planning Grant Virginia Tech: Center for Digital Twin Research, Innovation and Collaboration Hub (DT-RICH)
- Planning Grant: $20,000 (#2435428, Co-PI, Kim’s Share: 20%)
- Supplementary Fund: $3,999 (#2632360, Co-PI, Kim’s Share: 20%)
- Industry-Sponsored Project with Prospective IAB Member District First: $50,000 (PI, Kim’s Share: 50%, 2026-27)
American Dental Association (ADA), through the NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers (IUCRC) mechanism and the Center for Spatiotemporal Thinking, Computing, and Applications (CSTCA; NSF Award #1841520). Analyzing and Mapping Dental Care Access in the U.S.: A Study in Collaboration with the American Dental Association ($50,000 Total Project Funding, Co-PI. Kim’s Share: 50%)
OpenAI Researcher Access Program (2025-26, Role: PI, USD 5,000 API Credit)
Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth (#852P025) Healthy Communities Action Teams to Prevent Childhood Obesity Grants (2026-29, Role: PI, USD 119,719)
Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) (2025-26, Role: PI, Southwest Virginia Node, USD 50,000)

Internal Grants (Selected)

Project-based Learning (PBL) Focused Course Design and Implementation (2026-27, Role: PI, USD 6,000)
+Policy Fellow Grant (2025-26, Role: PI, USD 10,000)
Whole Health Consortium Seed Grant (2025, Role: PI, USD 40,000)
ICTAS COE Engineering Faculty Organization-Opportunity (2024-25, Role: Co-PI, USD 10,000)
4-VA Collaborative Research Grant (2024-25, Role: PI, USD 30,000)
4-VA Pre-Tenure Faculty Research Grant (2023, Role: PI, USD 15,000)
Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment (ISCE) Grants (2022-24, Role: PI, USD 17,225)

Research
Group

Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Abigail Jei

PhD Students (Interdisciplinary Geospatial and Environmental Analysis Program)

Shashank Karki (PhD Candidate, Co-Chair)
Sandesh Dulal (PhD Student, Chair)

Master Students

Fabiha Rahman (MS Geography, Completed, Spring 2025, Chair)
Abdul-Azeez Demola Lawal (MS Geography, Completed, Spring 2025, Chair)
Zach Sherman (MS Geography, Completed, Summer 2025, Co-Chair)
Sandesh Dulal (MS Geography, Completed, Spring 2026, Chair)
Rory Smith (MS Geography, Completed, Spring 2026, Chair)
Max Oickle (MS Geography, Ongoing, Spring 2027, Chair)
Matthew Angel (MS Geography, Ongoing, Spring 2027, Chair)
Casey Siregar (MS Geography, Ongoing, Spring 2027, Chair)
Will Jones (MS Geography, Ongoing, Spring 2027, Co-Chair)
Sutton Marks (MS Geography, Ongoing, Spring 2028, Chair)
Max Griffiths (MS Geography, Ongoing, Spring 2028, Chair)

Undergraduate Students

2026 Fall (7): Marvin, Nico (3 credits); Campbell, Quin (3 credits); Cannella, Brandon (3 credits); Crawford, Harrison (3 credits); Pavlitsa, Emily (3 credits); Zendek, Katherine (3 credits, Undergraduate Teaching Assistant); Petersen, Thomas (2 credits)
2026 Spring (6): Dunn, Hunter (3 credits); Griffiths, Max (3 credits); Marvin, Nico (3 credits); Petersen, Thomas (3 credits); Tormey, Tristan (3 credits); Liller, Erica (2 credits)
2025 Fall (3): Peterson, Harry (3 credits); Hamilton, Chelsea (3 credits); Lee, Lia (3 credits)
2025 Summer (2): Klemba, Kyle (William & Mary Undergraduate Student; non-credit); Meixian Li (UIUC Undergraduate Student; non-credit)
2025 Spring (2): Precit, Kieran (3 credits); Baker, Katherine D. (3 credits)
2024 Fall (2): Brown, Joshua L. (3 credits); Coughlin, Nicholas R. (3 credits)
2024 Summer (1): Pires, Miguel (University of Lisbon; non-credit)
2024 Spring (2): Jones, William S. (3 credits); Siregar, Casey T. (3 credits)
2023 Fall (2): Casey, Devon (3 credits); Seelbach, Zach (3 credits)
2023 Spring (1): Girgente, Gina (undergraduate student; non-credit)