About Us

Digram showing Research & Community Projects, Training for professional skill building and Knowledge exchange events as three key elements of GIS, Data, Data analysis and Visualization

Our Mission

The Spatial Analytics and Visualization Institute (SAVi) at San José State University, housed in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning (URBP), College of Social Sciences, is a world-class academic center dedicated to advancing cross-disciplinary research about complex urban problems using the power of spatial thinking, Geographic Information Systems Science (GISci/GIS), and big data. Furthering racial and social justice in communities via spatial analytics and visualization forms the thematic core of SAVi’s endeavors. SAVi produces impactful research and provides professional consulting services in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area. The Institute partners with SJSU university departments and research units, neighborhood organizations, public agencies, and private sector entities to develop innovative evidence-based solutions supporting social equity, particularly in small towns and rural areas. Organizing events with scholars, social influencers, and GISci tech entrepreneurs and educators, SAVi facilitates GIS knowledge exchange, professional skill building, and workforce development while providing spatial analytics and visualization research for the public and private sectors to advance decision-making that promotes equity

Diagram showing Support, Advance, Promote, Inform and Assist as key elements of SAVi

Our Vision

The SAVi at SJSU aspires to be the foremost interdisciplinary research hub in the nation for geospatial analytics and visualization that advance innovative solutions to major societal challenges. The aim is to make Northern California a major locus for geospatial advocacy initiatives. Engaging top researchers at SJSU and across the globe, policy experts, and industry leaders, SAVi will coordinate activities, knowledge generation, and policies of collaborative outreach to support informed decision-making and governance. Achieving this means coalescing a network of connections between people, government and community organizations (i.e., citizens and governments), and scholars into a knowledge-based community focused on how geospatial technology can address equitably urban challenges.

SAVi Staff

Ahoura pic

Ahoura Zandiatashbar, Ph.D.

SAVI Director
Urban and Regional Planning Associate Professor
PhD, University of Texas at Arlington
ahoura.zandiatashbar@sjsu.edu 
Kos

Richard Kos, AICP

SAVI Associate Director
Senior Lecturer, MUP/MPA Program Graduate Advisor, Admissions Director, Practitioner-in-Residence
Master of Regional Planning, May 1995. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
richard.kos@sjsu.edu 
Judi

Judi Heher

SAVI Program Manager
BMath, U of Waterloo (Canada) 1986
MA Education Santa Clara University 2013
Dual MA Geog/MUP SJSU 2024
 judith.heher@sjsu.edu
SAVI Visiting Scholar

Mona Hashemi Yazdi

SAVI Visiting Scholar
AbD, University of Texas at Arlington
mona.hashemi.yazdi@gmail.com 

SAVI Students

Stephanie

SAVI Researcher

California A-TOD Assessment

MS GISc Student

stephanie.nemet@sjsu.edu

Phani

Phani Sai Ram Munipalli

SAVI Researcher

Parking Management Apps Evaluation Project

MS Computer Software Engineering

phanisairam.munipalli@sjsu.edu

Gaurav

Gaurav Surtani 

SAVI Researcher

Parking Management Apps Evaluation Project

MS Artifical Intelligence 

gaurav.surtani@sjsu.edu

Jake's Headshot

Jake Wilde

SAVI Researcher

Bay Area Bike Equity Web-Map Project

BA Geography

 jake.wilde@sjsu.edu

Jaisipa

Jaisipa Mingthaisong

SAVI Researcher

Bay Area Traffic-Adjacent Pollution Anlaysis Project 

MA Geography

jaisipa.mingthaisong@sjsu.edu

SAVi Faculty Associates

Anton

Anton Rozhkov, Ph.D.

Industry Assistant Professor
at NYU Center for Urban Science + Progress

ar8843@nyu.edu

 

A smiling man with long hair and mustach

Jochen Albrecht, Ph.D.

Professor for Computational and Theoretical Geography, Hunter College

 PhD, University of Vechta, Germany 

jochen@hunter.cuny.edu

212-772-5221

A woman with short curly hair

Serena Alexander, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Public Policy and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University

se.alexander@northeastern.edu

A smiling man with short hair wearing a suit

C.J. Gabbe, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Santa Clara University

PhD, University of California, Los Angeles

cj@cjgabbe.com

SAVI Alumni

PM

Piyush Modi

SAVI Student Alum

HFE Graduate Student at San Jose State University

669-388-1079
piyush.modi@sjsu.edu

Jamsheed

Jamsheed Mistry

SAVI Student Alum

MS ENVS Student

jamsheedratan.mistry@sjsu.edu 

JK

Janhvi Kriplani

SAVI Student Assistant

Graphics, Visualizations, and web-management

MS Human Computer Interaction Student

janhviashok.kriplani@sjsu.edu