She received her BS degree in Civil Engineering with an outstanding medal from Tsinghua University (2001) and the award of “Most Distinguished Graduate of Beijing.” She received her MS (2003) in Transportation Engineering from Tsinghua University and PhD from the University of Texas at Austin, during when she received numerous prizes and scholarships. After graduation, she worked for Bucknell University as an Assistant Professor for three years, and joined Rensselaer in 2011.