Jalal Awan

Photo of Jalal Awan
Assistant Policy Researcher; Ph.D. Candidate, Pardee RAND Graduate School
Santa Monica Office

Education

M.Phil. in policy analysis, Pardee RAND Graduate School; M.S. in green technologies, University of Southern California; B.S. in electrical engineering, University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore

Overview

Jalal Awan (he/him) is a doctoral candidate at the Pardee RAND Graduate School and an assistant policy analyst at RAND. Prior to joining RAND, he worked as an electrical projects engineer with hands-on experience on industrial electrical and control systems.

His research interests broadly fall under technology policy and include autonomous transport, climate change mitigation, community science, advanced manufacturing, infrastructure resilience, and the smart grid. At RAND, he is currently involved in projects under the Social and Economic Well-being division and the Tech and Narrative Lab. Through these projects he is working on novel datasets to disaggregate county-level environmental policy outcomes, prototyping hardware and software solutions for hyper-local air quality assessment, developing performance measures for public health emergency handling, estimating benefits of autonomous vehicles, evaluating transboundary environmental impacts on India-Pakistan relations and using gaming to understand the application of technology in food production. Jalal has also developed technical reports, presented findings to a diverse range of stakeholders (including the Pardee RAND Board of Governors), and volunteered on three panels with the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

As a Fulbright Exchange scholar, he completed his M.S. in green technologies from the University of Southern California in December 2015. Awan is a member of IEEE, Six Sigma Green Belt from the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and also holds the U.S. Green Building Council certification in Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED AP).

Research Focus

Previous Positions

Electrical Projects Engineer; Renewable Energy Consultant

Recent Projects

  • Social and Environmental Impact Assessment of Coal-based Indigenous Power Generation in Pakistan
  • Impacts of Climate Change on Youth, Peace and Security in the the Middle East and Africa
  • Using gaming to understand the role of technology for food security
  • Cybersecurity of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Honors & Awards

  • Fulbright Exchange Scholar 2014-2015, U.S. Department of State
  • Vice President, Fulbright Association, LA Chapter, Fulbright Association

Languages

Urdu; Hindi; Punjabi; Arabic (low)

Commentary

  • Active pumpjacks from oil wells at the Inglewood Oil Field in Culver City, California, March 10, 2022, photo by Bing Guan/Reuters

    How We Might Better Live with Oil in California

    As California grapples with the question of balancing environmental stewardship with the recent renewed focus on “local oil,” lawmakers could look to local communities for the best answers to avoid future petro-disasters.

    Apr 1, 2022 CalMatters

  • Department of Water and Power employees assess the damage from a broken 30-inch water main on Sunset Boulevard, next to the UCLA campus in the Westwood section of Los Angeles, July 30, 2014, photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

    Lessening Leakages: How Water Systems Can Learn From Smart Electric Grids

    As drought and population growth place increasing pressure on water supply, the need to save and efficiently manage Southern California's water resources becomes increasingly critical. A single information and communication technology platform could go a long way toward moving water utilities from reactive to proactive maintenance practices.

    Mar 22, 2019 The RAND Blog

  • Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, speaks to members of media after voting in the general election in Islamabad, Pakistan, July 25, 2018

    New Pakistan, Old Challenges

    While the United States has been voicing concerns about the destabilizing potential of China's Belt and Road Initiative, Pakistan needs the economic stability that initiative could bring. As long as Pakistan remains a poor country, its democracy will be at risk.

    Oct 17, 2018 The National Interest

Publications