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Dr. Eric A. Specking serves as the Assistant Dean for Enrollment Management and Retention for the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas. Specking received a B.S. in Computer Engineering, a M.S. in Industrial Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Arkansas. His research interest includes decision quality, resilient design, set-based design, engineering and project management, and engineering education. During his time at the University of Arkansas, Eric has served as Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator, or Senior Personnel on over 40 research projects totaling over $6.6 Million, which produced over 50 publications (journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, newsletters, and technical reports). He is an active member of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) where he has served in various leadership positions.

Dr. Rob Curry is an Assistant Professor in the Industrial Engineering Department at the University of Arkansas. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Clemson University (2018), his master’s in Industrial & Systems Engineering from the University of Florida (2014), and his bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering from the University of Arkansas (2013). Before joining the University of Arkansas, he was an assistant professor in the Mathematics Department at the United States Naval Academy from 2018 to 2023.

Curry’s research involves methodology for modeling and solving large-scale network optimization models having applications in defense settings, sensor networks and cyber-physical infrastructure settings. His work has been published in high quality journals such as IISE Transactions, Networks and Naval Research Logistics, and his research has been sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. His teaching experience and interests lie in linear and integer programming, network optimization modeling and algorithms, and applied probability and statistics.

Alyssa Ball is a current Junior at the University of Arkansas pursuing her B.S. in Industrial Engineering with a minor in Engineering Management. Throughout her undergraduate career, she has explored network interdiction modeling and programming and has developed and implemented coursework into various Industrial Engineering courses. Her research thus far has spanned topics such as engineering education and the strategic alignment between academia and industry. 

Anthony Beger is a current Junior at the University of Arkansas pursuing his B.S. in Data Science with a concentration in Business Data Analytics. Beger is a part of the first cohort of Data Science students at the University of Arkansas. His experiences have focused on Data Manipulation, Data Analytics, and Predictive Modeling.

Willow Franks graduated with her B.S. in Industrial Engineering and a minor in Data Analytics in August 2023. She is currently pursuing her M.S. in Operations Management. Her experiences have included data analysis, decision support, and project management.

Sterling Hayden is a current Senior at the University of Arkansas pursuing his B.S. in Data Science with a concentration in Statistics . Hayden belongs to the first cohort of Data Science students at the University of Arkansas. His background is centered around Data Analytics, Machine Learning, and Statistics

Brenda Hernandez is currently working as a research graduate assistant in the Industrial Engineering department at the University of Arkansas. She is pursuing her MSOM and has recently graduated with her B.S.BME in May 2022. In her last year of undergrad, Brenda worked in the entrepreneurial space for local developing tech, specifically FemTech and machine learning, and human centered design. 

Jose Sanchez received a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering in May 2022 and will graduate with a M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Arkansas in December 2023. Over the course of his senior year, Sanchez participated in a Senior Design Project with UAMS. He and his team worked on the development and design of a retractable peritoneal catheter for dialysis patients. His research interests are decision modeling, project management, and data analysis.

Martin Tran currently serves as a Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas. His research aims to provide end users analytically-sound risk assessments for making informed decisions under uncertainty, utilizing advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques. His interests are in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, and Image Processing. Martin will graduate with an M.S. in Computer Science in May 2024.

Javier Ballester was a visiting Industrial Engineering exchange student from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. He spent Spring and Fall semesters of the academic year 2022/2023 at the University of Arkansas. His research focuses on the study of the McClellan–Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System and aims to identify performance measures that show the impact of infrastructure improvement, operations, and maintenance funding.

Tevari Barker served as a Graduate Research Assistant at the University of Arkansas. Barker received a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering along with a data analytics minor in May 2020 and graduatde with a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Arkansas in May 2022. Near the end of his undergrad, Barker worked as a research intern at Heartland Forward based in Bentonville, Arkansas where his research focused on improving the economic performance in the Heartland region (center of the US). In Spring 2020, Barker worked at Marshalltown Company where his focus was on reducing inbound LTL shipment costs by implementing a balanced LTL- FTL freight consolidation strategy.

Dr. Carrie Beam holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from U.C. Berkeley and an undergraduate engineering degree from Princeton University.  She worked with the University of Arkansas Department of Industrial Engineering since 2012, and full-time from 2017 to 2022.  She taught undergraduate and graduate classes in Decision Models, Statistics, Data Analytics, Data Visualization, and a variety of other quantitative fields.  She served as the chair-elect for the INFORMS Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Advanced Analytics, Operations Research, and Management Science, and consults on a variety of analytics problems for business and governmental organizations.

Jessica Creech graduated from the University of Arkansas with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering. She is currently pursuing an M.S. in Industrial Engineering. Her research experiences have focused on data analytics and predictive modeling.

Brandon Fangio received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and a M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Arkansas. Past projects include developing advanced statistical models (machine learning) to predict profitability and time and visualization dashboards using Excel and Tableau to aid decision-making processes. He aims to develop decision tools, which encompasses value measures, objectives, portfolio analysis, uncertainty, and system life cycles.

Rocio Gomez currently serves as a Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas. Gomez received a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from University Carlos III de Madrid, Spain, in June 2021, and will graduate with a Master of Science in Operations Management from the University of Arkansas in 2022. On the last semester of her undergrad, Gomez completed her final Research Project in the University of Arkansas, by researching on the Optimization of the supply chain to maximize the number of Covid-19 vaccines delivered on the United States. In Fall 2020 Gomez worked on an internship in Spain at GIRA Automation where her focus was on managing and creating offers of automated machines for the customers.

Dr. Richard Ham is a seasoned transportation executive with 37 years of experience in security, safety operations, program administration, compliance and enforcement. 

Dr. Ham retired from the United States Air Force after a distinguished career, serving as a senior air traffic controller, airfield manager, security executive, and commander of the command and control school. After his retirement, Dr. Ham worked for the United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA), holding positions as the senior executive responsible for regulatory compliance and managing the official enforcement automated data systems as well as the world’s largest K9 explosive program, general aviation, regulatory enforcement and regulatory risk management.. 

Dr. Ham began his career at TSA by serving as an Assistant Federal Security Director for Inspections. In this role, Dr. Ham was responsible for the day-to-day management of TSA personnel conducting screening activities, regulatory inspections, law enforcement, administrative, and budgetary functions for all airports in Arkansas. Additionally, Dr. Ham provided technical assistance to TSA management on five major national investigations involving violations of Federal criminal laws and regulations.

As the General Manager of the Compliance Program for the Office of Security Operations, Dr. Ham set policy for 2100 inspectors and established the TSA Surface Training Academy. While in this position, Dr. Ham established policy to train Senior Executive Service leaders, inspectors, Federal Security Directors, Federal Air Marshals, international students, and other TSA personnel in mass transit safety, operations, equipment and technology, and other modal-specific security strategies and data-driven processes. He also developed, delivered, and approved curriculum for web-based, online, video, virtual and traditional classroom modalities for security, operations and leadership courses. Additionally, Dr. Ham was a key contributor to several studies on security gaps and staffing models.

While serving as the Assistant Federal Security Director at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Dr. Ham managed the entire TSA regulatory program, including operational K9 units, at the agency’s fourth busiest airport. In this capacity, Dr. Ham also oversaw the merger of American and US Airways, forming the largest air carrier in the world.

Dr. Ham currently serves as the associate director of the largest graduate program at the University of Arkansas. He is a recognized academic professional and practitioner, teaching graduate courses on homeland security, unmanned aircraft systems, leadership, global competition, aviation Security Management Systems (SeMS), automation tools, enforcement theory and transportation security. His research interests are in the areas of global supply chain, security, SeMS, compliance theory, risk management, project management and security optimization models. 

Tate Hasenclever graduated with honors from the University of Arkansas in industrial engineering with a minor in data analytics. Between classwork and internships, his experiences focused on data insights, project management, and facility design.

Joshua Jensen received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering in May 2019 and graduated with an M.S. in Operations Management from the University of Arkansas in December 2020. Over the course of his senior year, Jensen participated in a Capstone project with Parkland Health and Hospital System in Dallas, TX. He and his team worked to provide Parkland Hospital’s Emergency Department with a tool to predict future patient arrivals and admissions to aid in staffing, resource allocation, and bed management. Upon completion of the project, Jensen was offered an internship with Parkland to continue working on the implementation of the team’s project as well as to conduct work concerning patient flow and process improvements around the hospital. His current research concerns a systems engineering study on integrated sensor suites being used along the U.S. border.

Karthikeyan Palanikumar received a M.S. in Industrial Engineering in 2021.His research involved modeling cost estimation & decision tools. He specializes in the fields of Decision Models, Project Management, and Advanced Engineering Economics. Palanikumar is a member of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE). Palanikumar holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Anna University, India. He specialized in Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems, Automobile Engineering & Finite Element Analysis. His career interest lies in the field of Data Science & Data Analytics.

Samuel Kreinberg earned a B. S. in Mathematics with a concentration in statistics from the University of Arkansas in 2023. Kreinberg has experience with data handling and predictive modeling.

Lieutenant Colonel Daniel F. Manso is an active duty Brazilian Air Force Officer with over 25 years of operational, technical, and staff experience at multiple echelons. Lt. Col. Daniel received a dual B.Sc. in Aeronautical Science and Management Science from the Academia da Força Aérea, an MBA in Public Management from the Universidade Federal Fluminense, and an M.Sc. in Operations Research from the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica. He is currently at the University of Arkansas as visiting scholar, pursuing a Ph.D. in Operations Research and Management Science from the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica. His research interests include strategic problem-solving, decision analysis, simulation, and design and analysis of experiments.

Griffin Mathews graduated with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering with honors at the University of Arkansas. He completed research on GIS-Based Decision Analysis techniques for sensor selection and simulation with the DHS. As well, he served as project manager for his Capstone Senior Design Project focused on applications of machine learning with finance. His classwork has focused on data analysis, leadership, decision modeling, and project management.

Rolando Orellana currently serves as a Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas. His research involves helping identify and design visualization in decision making utilizing description analytics, creating predictive analytics to simulate possible future environments, and developing prescriptive analytics to assess decision space. His interests are in Decision Models, Project Management, and Engineering Statistics. Rolando will graduate with an M.S. in Industrial Engineering in May 2022.

Dr. Edward A. Pohl served as Co-Director, System Design and Analytics Laboratory (SyDL), and Professor and Head of the Industrial Engineering Department and holder of the 21st Century Professorship at the University of Arkansas. Pohl is the current Dean of the Graduate School and International Education. He has led reliability, risk and supply chain related research efforts at the University of Arkansas.  Before coming to Arkansas, Ed spent twenty-one years in the United States Air Force where he served in a variety of engineering, operations analysis and academic positions during his career. Ed received his Ph.D. in Systems and Industrial Engineering from the University of Arizona. He holds a M.S. in Systems Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and M.S. in Reliability Engineering from the University of Arizona, an M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Dayton, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Boston University. Ed is the Co-Editor of the Journal of Engineering Management, on the Editorial Board of the IEEE Transaction on Technology and Engineering Management, and Systems.  Ed is a Fellow of IISE, a Fellow of the Society of Reliability Engineers, a Fellow of the American Society of Engineering Management, a Senior Member of IEEE and ASQ, a member of INCOSE, INFORMS, ASEE, MORS and AHRMM.

Joseph Sartini received a B.S.in Operations Research and Financial Engineering at Princeton University. Over the course of his academic career, Sartini participated in research on topics ranging from statistical modeling of population dynamics to machine learning and its various applications. He worked on the
optimization-based aspects of a systems engineering study on integrated
integrated sensor suites in use along the U.S. border.

Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas J. Shallcross is an active duty Army Officer with over 16 years of operational and staff experience at multiple echelons.  Lt. Col. Shallcross received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Virginia Military Institute, a M.S. in Operations Research from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Arkansas.  His research interests include decision analysis, set-based design, risk analysis, simulation, stochastic processes, and operations assessments.

Meghan Willox served as a graduate research assistant at the University of Arkansas (UofA) pursuing her Master’s in Industrial Engineering. In May 2022, she graduated with her Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from the UofA, where her projects included research on titanium dioxide, bioenergy, and microcystin in local Northwest Arkansas lakes and ponds. 

Dr. Jingxian Wu received the B.S. (EE) degree from the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing, China, in 1998, the M.S. (EE) degree from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, in 2001, and the Ph.D. (EE) degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia, Missouri, USA, in 2005. He is currently a Full Professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. His research interests mainly focus on signal processing for large scale networks and wireless communications, including energy efficient information sensing and processing, green communications, and statistical data analytics, etc. He served as a Cochair for the 2012 Wireless Communication Symposium of the IEEE International Conference on Communication, and Cochairs for the 2009 and 2015 Wireless Communication Symposium of the IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference. He served as an Associate Editor of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY from 2007 to 2011, and is now an Editor of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS, and an Associate Editor of the IEEE ACCESS.