As part of the 2025 Thomas J. O’Bryant (TJO) Fellowship, Eno was proud to welcome Ali Kothawala to the Eno team. The TJO Fellowship is a 10-week, immersive professional development opportunity for students pursuing transportation-related degrees who are interested in bridging research, policy, and practice. Kothawala joined the team and quickly became an engaged contributor to Eno’s research and policy work. His journey—rooted in curiosity, cross-disciplinary experience, and a desire to understand the human side of transportation—illustrates what makes this fellowship so impactful.
The TJO Fellowship is designed to give emerging transportation professionals hands-on experience with federal transportation policy and finance while strengthening research and writing skills. Fellows work closely with Eno staff to support research projects across all transportation modes and sectors, contribute to Eno Transportation Weekly by tracking congressional hearings and analyzing legislation, and engage directly with the policymaking community through briefings, events, and Eno’s education programs. Through this combination of research, policy exposure, and professional engagement, the fellowship helps participants translate academic training into practical, real-world impact.
Kothawala initially came to the U.S. in 2018 when he began a graduate program at the University of California, Davis. While his background was in civil engineering, his interests spanned multiple areas, including environmental engineering, transportation, and public policy. He also maintained a strong interest in psychology—particularly the unpredictability and complexity that comes with understanding human behavior.
While at UC Davis, Kothawala found himself immersed in a wide range of opportunities, including engagement in the policymaking space due to the university’s proximity to Sacramento. After graduation, he moved to Los Angeles, where he spent three years working in consulting. In that role, he worked across a broad range of transportation issues, including bicycle and pedestrian planning, transit, vehicular projects, technology, and big data. This experience exposed him to the breadth of the transportation field and set him on the path to doctoral studies—first at the University of Texas at Austin and later at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
In his Ph.D. program, Kothawala is exploring the many ways people are using emerging mobilities and technologies. He joined Eno as both a TJO Fellow and an Archer Fellow to build on his academic studies and immerse himself in the Washington, D.C. policy space. While at Eno, Kothawala participated in the annual Leaders Development Conference, joining fellow emerging transportation leaders from across the U.S. for a week-long policy deep dive in Washington, D.C. He engaged with and learned from Eno leadership and transportation professionals throughout the region, gained a deeper understanding of how a nonprofit research organization operates, tracked policy issues and congressional hearings, contributed analysis to Eno Transportation Weekly, and published a larger technical analysis, which is also featured in this week’s ETW.
Kothawala’s analysis, “Planning in the Age of Uncertainty: Advancing Transportation Resilience Through Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty (DMDU),” examines how transportation agencies can use DMDU methods to build resilient, future-ready plans amid rapid technological, climate, demographic, and financial change. His work demonstrates both his ability to translate complex technical concepts and his recognition of the uncertainty transportation agencies must navigate in long-term planning.
Reflecting on his fellowship experience, Kothawala emphasized how valuable it was to explore the practical applications of his academic work, noting that “a lot of academics just don’t get this opportunity.” He added that Eno “has something for everyone, regardless of what you are looking for.” The fellowship offers a holistic view of transportation policy and the space to explore a wide range of topics. “If you’re looking to take your academic work and make it practical, or if you have any inkling of going into a policy area,” he said, “Eno offers you the platform to do it.”
Building on experiences like Kothawala’s, Eno is now accepting applications for the Summer 2026 Thomas J. O’Bryant Transportation Policy & Finance Fellowship, continuing its commitment to developing the next generation of transportation leaders.
