IAB Steering Committee

Ali Kucukozyigit is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence(SCAI) at Arizona State University(ASU) where he teaches risk management, project management systems dynamics & thinking, and systems engineering. His student portfolio includes undergraduates, as well as graduate student in various modalities including in-person, online and hybrid.

His research interests are leadership development in VUCA world, risk management, project management and business decision making (systems dynamics and modeling).

His education includes BS in Systems Engineering, MS in Systems Engineering, MA in Leadership Development, International Relations and Organization Management. He earned his PhD in Engineering Management and Systems Engineering (EMSE) at Old Dominion University.

He is currently also serving as ASEM Commutations Director and as member of International Advisory Board(IAB). He is a professional member in ASEM, IISE and INCOSE. He holds CPEM certification from ASEM, SAP PP &M Functional Consultant certification from SAP and PRINCE2 certification from Axelos.

Professor Richard Grandrino is the Program Director and Faculty for the Engineering Management and the Vince & Judy Vidas, Systems Engineering Master of Science Degree Programs within the College of Engineering at Drexel University. Professor Grandrino has taught at Drexel University since 1994 and has been involved in distance/ online learning since 2000. He teaches mostly decision science courses (Statistics, Operations Research, Modeling & Simulation, etc.) and a variety of systems engineering courses for both programs. He is known for his contributions of developing and launching the Systems Engineering Masters Degree Program at Drexel (since 2014) as well as developing a variety of Post Baccalaureate Systems Engineering Certificates tailored to industry partners. In addition to his faculty and director role,

Professor Grandrino spent 32 years in industry working for Lockheed Martin where he had a variety of different roles including a systems engineer, program manager, functional manager and technical director. His assignments also included a role as instructor for the Lockheed Martin Engineering Leadership Development Program (ELDP). Prof Grandrino is also a Certified Professional in Engineering Management (CPEM).

Prof Larry Mallak, PhD is an industrial engineer who has spent his career building and using innovative methods to improve organizational systems and design processes leading to better outcomes. His research applies and adapts tools and research methods from social science disciplines to applications in engineering, technology, and healthcare settings. Dr. Mallak is a Professor of Industrial and Entrepreneurial Engineering & Engineering Management at Western
Michigan University and Director of the Engineering Management MS and BS programs. Prior to his university appointment, he worked in Charlotte, North Carolina, for Premier Healthcare as a healthcare systems engineer and he has worked as a science reporter for National Public Radio. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including TEDx, Engineering Management Journal, WORK, and Industrial Management. He holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Industrial & Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech, with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois. Dr. Mallak is a is a Certified Professional in Engineering Management (CPEM) and a Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Management.

John Richards, PhD is an operations research analyst for the US Army Corps of Engineers in the Institute for Systems Engineering Research where his research focuses on the intersection of civil engineering, engineering management, and operations management topics within the area of installation and infrastructure resilience.

Prior to joining the Institute for Systems Engineering Research, Dr. Richards served as an active duty Army Engineer Officer leading combat units and technical teams as well as teaching assignments at the United States Military Academy in both the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering and Department of Systems Engineering teaching construction, project, and operations management.

He holds a Ph.D. and master degree in engineering management from the Missouri University of Science and Technology in addition to master and bachelor degrees in civil engineering and is a registered professional engineer in Colorado.

Dr. Alvaro Rodriguez-Prieto is currently an Associate Professor in Industrial Engineering at the National Distance Education University (UNED) in Spain. In this institution, Dr. Rodriguez-Prieto manages the Innovation and Transfer Group “Advanced Failure Prognosis in Engineering Applications”. He also serves as an Industry Advisor and Engineering Asset Consultant with almost 18 years of relevant international experience in Energy & Utilities (especially in highly regulated business like the nuclear power generation), Oil & Gas and Manufacturing industries.

Alvaro received his BSc & MSc in Materials Engineering from the Complutense University of Madrid, as well as the MEng in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering and the PhD in Industrial Engineering from the UNED. He also holds several Graduate Certificates, such as one in Data Science from Stanford University, other in Innovation Management for Growth by IE Business School and another one in Digital Manufacturing from the University of Buffalo. He is a Certified Professional in Engineering Management (CPEM®) from the American Society for Engineering Management (ASEM) and holds a Certificate as Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst (FMVA®) by the Corporate Finance Institute (CFI).
During almost 18 years of intense professional activity, he has held thus different positions of responsibility in private
industry, highlighting roles such as Manager of Technical Assistance services aimed to the Plant Maintenance and the
Qualification of Components for the Almaraz and Trillo Nuclear Power Plants in Spain; as well as the Leader of relevant
Industrial R&D Management activities for the swiss multinational SGS.

On the other hand, regarding the academic activity, he has doing research focused on the field of Manufacturing
Engineering, Materials Technology and Industrial Management, being aimed at ensuring the safety, efficiency and
sustainability of engineering-assets. He was named as Guest Faculty Researcher at Argonne National Laboratory, doing
“advanced manufacturing” and “materials for extreme environments” research, between 2018 and 2019.
Working on the bridge between academia and industry, apart from the development and commercialization of several
innovative services related to asset integrity and the evaluation of the operability of mechanical components, Alvaro has
often transformed Applied Research developments in relevant business opportunities, highlighting the industrial
consultancy services arising from research on models for predicting the in-service behavior of materials subjected to severe degradation mechanisms as a consequence of the arduous process conditions. These advanced models allow to reduce plant unavailability, improving reliability and business profitability.

Other responsibilities include serving as an Industry Expert within the PHM committee "Advanced Monitoring, Diagnostics and Prognostics in Manufacturing Operations" of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), being also an Industry Advisor for several other institutions like European Atomic Energy Forum - FORATOM and Solar Impulse Foundation. He has published numerous academic and technical manuscripts and has supervised several PhD
Dissertations and other advanced research works, being currently the Principal Investigator of several competitive research projects.

Additionally, he has supervised the research training of several PhD students from international universities. He is Guest
Researcher within the Department of Engineering for Innovation at Università del Salento (Italy). And, currently, he serves
as the Academic Director of the MSc in Industrial Engineering and the MSc in Operations and Supply Chain Management,
both at UNED.