Matthews’s research and teaching focuses on engineering, economic, and social decision-making under uncertainty via large datasets, computation, and visualization methods. His main current interests are in the use of connected vehicle technologies to provide high-resolution data on vehicle performance and use to improve mobility. Examples of particular topics of interest include using such data to improve vehicle safety and emissions inspections and to implement mileage-based vehicle fees.
Previously, Matthews contributed to development of tools for environmental and energy life cycle assessment (LCA) of products and processes (such as the EIO-LCA model), estimating and tracking environmental effects across global supply chains (such as carbon footprinting), and the sustainability of infrastructure systems.