Zhanchao Yang is a dual-degree master's student pursuing a Master of City Planning (MCP) and a Master of Urban Spatial Analytics (MUSA) at the Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania. He works as a graduate research fellow and assistant under Prof. Erick Guerra. With a deep interest in how cities function, Zhanchao focuses on integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and urban informatics techniques to address real-world problems in understanding travel behavior and smart mobility. His work supports more equitable, efficient, and sustainable urban infrastructure. Zhanchao earned his bachelor's degree from Binghamton University, SUNY. He was honored with the 2024 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence (CASE)—the highest recognition for SUNY students.

My research interests involve leveraging advanced geospatial technologies to support city and regional planning frameworks, as well as the smart cities initiative, particularly in transportation and human mobility. I focus on integrating spatial data science and remote sensing to address complex urban challenges.

• Geostatistics and Spatial Analysis with Machine learning
• Geovisualization & Cartography
• Agent-Based Modeling

• Travel behavior modeling, data mining, and human mobility
• Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and smart mobility
• GeoAI and remote sensing for urban planning

• MUSA 5000: Statistical and Data Mining Methods for Urban Data Analysis (Fall 2025)
  • Instructor: Prof. Eugene Brusilovskiy, Weitzman School of Design, UPenn & Barnett College of Public Health, Temple University
  • Graduate-level intro to statistics class with strong focus on traditional statistics (regression), spatial econometrics, and machine learning (unsupervised and supervised learning)
• MUSA 5080: Public Policy Analytics (Fall 2025)
  • Instructor: Dr Elizabeth Delmelle, Associate Professor, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania
  • Graduate-level R-based class focuses on advanced spatial analysis and data science/machine learning
• CPLN 5920: Public Policy Analytics (Spring 2026)
  • Instructor: Dr Allison Lassiter, Associate Professor, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania
  • Graduate-level class mainly for planners without strong GIS backgrounds
  • Same class as MUSA 5080

• EML mentor and teaching assistant (Summer 2023, Fall 2023 & Spring 2024)
  • Under the Binghamton University English Language Institute and ISSS
  • Helped incoming and current International students adapt to different cultures and full-English academic environments (in- and outside-classroom)

2024 SUNY Chancellor Award for Student Excellence, State University of New York

• The SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence acknowledges students for outstanding achievements, which is the highest honor for student excellence at the State University of New York
• Awarded to students who have best demonstrated the integration of SUNY excellence within many aspects of their lives, which must include three areas: academics, leadership, diversity, equity, inclusion and justice, campus involvement or community service, research and development, or the arts.

President's Award for Undergraduate Student Excellence (Honorable Mention), Binghamton University

• Awarded to students who have enriched the Binghamton University community through a record of accomplishment and leadership in scholarship, student life, and community life, all of which reflect the University’s purposes and priorities.

Department of Geography and GIS & Remote Sensing Core Facility Student Poster Competition, Binghamton University

• First Place - Undergraduate * 2 , November 18th, 2022, November 17th, 2023
• People’s Choice Award (Undergraduate), November 18th, 2022

Paul F. Gorman '73 Memorial Scholarship, Binghamton University

• Awarded annually to a student with a declared major in geography and a GPA of 2.8 or higher, Fall 2023

• University of Pennsylvania; Master of City and Regional Planning (MCP) 2024-2026(Expected)
• University of Pennsylvania; Master of Urban Spatial Analytics (MUSA) 2024-2026(Expected)
• Binghamton University, SUNY; Bachelor of Arts, Geography and GIS, 2020-2024

• Geography and Planning: focused on geography and planning coding resources
• Opengeos.org: Pending development
• MUSA-Zhanchao: My course-related and research work at the Master of Urban Spatial Analytics program, University of Pennsylvania (co-hosted by my team, if cooperated in class)