Director for Research and Innovative Technology

Dr. Stephen Popkin, a recognized authority in transportation fatigue and human factors, and is serving as the Director for Research and Innovative Technology at the US Department of Transportation’s Volpe Center in Cambridge, MA since 2017. Prior to coming to the Volpe Center, he worked for the US Navy, and the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. He has spent over 30 years studying human fatigue in rail and other operations for the Federal Government and chaired the Working Time Society and Scientific Committee on Shiftwork and Working Time, for the International Commission on Occupational Health. He graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1999 with his Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology with research focused on the irregular work schedules of freight train drivers.