Ph.D. students

Xue LeiXue Lei finished a master’s degree in industrial engineering at IMSE in spring 2017, and she is currently pursing a Ph.D. in IMSE. In her master’s thesis, she applied Bayesian analysis to estimate the reliability of hybrid vehicles. You can see her youtube video on the topic here. She also developed dynamic fault trees to assess supply chain risk which appears in Computers & Industrial Engineering. She analyzed the effects of misinterpreting common cause and special cause variation, which is published in the International Journal of Production Engineering. Here dissertation research focuses on a risk analysis of mass shootings in the United States. She earned her bachelor’s degree in flight vehicle design and engineering from the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) in China in 2014. She received a first-class people’s scholarship of HIT during her undergraduate study. Xue also won the second price in “Flying into the future: Space exploration innovation contest” in Asia.
Mark WhiteMark White earned a master’s degree in Systems Engineering at IMSE in August 2017. He completed a master’s degree in Engineering Management at IMSE in December 2018. Mark has over 20 years of experience in manufacturing operations and supply chain. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and will be researching topics in supply chain risk mitigation.

Master’s students

Charchit ShuklaCharchit Shukla is a master’s Student in IMSE. Prior to this, he earned his bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology & Science. His master’s thesis focuses on creating a model and simulating the annual costs from billion-dollar natural disasters in the United States. His conference paper was recognized as the best paper in the Engineering Economy Division track for the Institute for Industrial & Systems Engineering (IISE) annual meeting in 2020. His research interests lie in the decision science, risk analysis, and 3D printing. He also holds two years of industry expertise in manufacturing. Passion for learning and applying system-based thinking are his strengths. He served as teaching assistant for IE 560 Engineering Risk Analysis.

Undergraduate students

Charisse LeeCharisse Lee is a freshman pursuing a B.S. in IMSE. As a freshman researcher in the Academic Program for Excellence (APEX), she is he is helping to create an online Excel tool to assist with electricity power planning. She is planning to pursue MBA as well. In my spare time, I enjoy painting, drawing, reading, traveling, and photography.
Kegan WallisKegan Wallis a senior at Iowa State pursuing a B.S. in IMSE and an MBA. As an IMSE URA, she assistaed with the regional food transportation network project and researching emerging threats to Iowa for the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Kegan is the social events chair for the Institute for Industrial and Systems Engineering (IISE) student chapter at ISU. Kegan is planning to study abroad in Ireland before pursuing an MBA and enjoys golfing, painting, and watching Disney movies.

Former Students

Ramin GiahiRamin Giahi earned his Ph.D. degree in IMSE in 2020. He currently works as a data and operations research scientist at Principal Financial. Ramin’s dissertation research focused on using simulation optimization to solve problems in engineering system design. He won the best paper award for his design optimization with flexibility at the Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineers (IISE) in May 2019.  He published his paper on design for resilience for risk-averse firms in Computers & Industrial Engineering. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering from the University of Tehran. In his spare time, Ramin likes to play chess and volleyball and enjoys cooking and traveling.
Minxiang ZhangMinxiang Zhang graduated with a M.S. degree in industrial engineering from IMSE in Spring 2017, and he is working with Kroger as operations researcher analyst. During his graduate work, he helped Boeing Aerospace develop operations research models to help the company develop long-term plans for its painting operations. His research developed a new forecasting method for long-term strategic planning with deep uncertainty and he analyzed different decision-making methods for these production and planning problems. Minxiang earned his bachelor degree in chemical engineering from East China University of Science and Technology. He previously worked as a quality and process engineer in SINOPEC Shanghai Engineering Company for four years where he published a paper predicting engineering design quality with a logistic regression model.
Amit SonarAmit Sonar graduated with a master’s engineering degree in IMSE in 2017. He is currently a Process Improvement Lead at Whirlpool Corporation. His book chapter applying the Wagner-Whitin model to a supply chain disruption appears in Supply Chain Risk Management: Advanced Tools, Models, and Developments. Apart from his academic life, he is interested in hiking and adventure sports. Amit received his bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering from Pune University. He joined Dassault Systems as a product quality analyst for 3 years where he received recognition from the director of the company for his exceptional work in meeting the product standards
Arun VinayakArun Vinayak graduated with a M.S. degree in industrial engineering from IMSE in Spring 2017. After graduation, he worked for Tesla in California, and he currently works on the sourcing team for Protera, an automotive and energy storage company. He specialized in applied operations research with research interests in supply chain management, engineering risk analysis, inventory control, and production planning. His book chapter analyzing the impact of consumers on business following a supply chain disruption appears in Supply Chain Risk Management: Advanced Tools, Models, and Developments. He also developed a quantitative model to assess new suppliers and he presented that work at the 2017 IISE conference. Arun was a member of Iowa State’s student chapter of Alpha Pi Mu and INFORMS. Arun received his B.E. (Hons.) degree in electrical and electronics engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India.
AlexanAlexandria Stewartdria Stewart received her M.S. degree in industrial engineering from IMSE in Summer 2017. Her research focused on developing an agent-based simulation to analyze the risk of an active shooter situation. Her broad research interests include risk and decision analysis, continuous improvement, and manufacturing. Alex currently works in manufacturing engineering at Danfoss Power Solutions. She received her B.S. in Industrial Engineering in December 2014, also from Iowa State University. In her undergraduate years, she served as President of Alpha Pi Mu and won the Senior Capstone Design Competition.
Aditya PathakAditya Pathak graduated with an M.S. degree in industrial engineering from IMSE in Summer 2017. His research developed a new dynamic economic model to analyse and predict the economic consequences of disruptions based on stock market price indices. He has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pune. Apart from academics, Aditya is an automotive enthusiast and has been a part of the BAJA and FSAE competitions for building ATVs and race cars, respectively.
Lei YaoLei Yao earned his M.S. in industrial engineering from IMSE in Fall 2017. His researched focused on allocating resources in situations with deep uncertainty, and presented part of his work on resource allocation for deep uncertainty at the 2017 IISE annual meeting and at the 2017 INFORMS annual meeting. He also earned an M.S. degree in engineering management from the University of Alaska Anchorage. After graduation, he worked for a world leading cryogenic company, Air Liquide, for a few years and served as a risk management representative where he was responsible for project and company risk management including risk analysis and assessment, risk register, and annual training. He has several conference papers and journal articles on renewable energy and risk analysis. Lei enjoys jogging, racquetball, badminton, cooking, and traveling.
Sarat SivaprasadSarat Sivaprasad graduated with an M.S degree in industrial engineering in Fall 2017. As a graduate student, Sarat researched the relationship between subjective expected utility theory and interval analysis within decision analysis. His paper on this research will appear soon in the journal Decision Analysis. Another paper uses probability distribution to model the risks associated with injuries in the English Football Premier League. Sarat graduated with a B.S in Mechanical Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India in 2013. After graduation, Sarat worked for two years as an operations engineer in Tata Power, an integrated power company based out of Mumbai. Sarat is a huge sports enthusiast and loves watching soccer, cricket and tennis. Manchester United is his favorite team and he is also a huge fan of Roger Federer. Besides sports, Sarat likes watching movies, travelling and cooking.
Varun Kotta graduated with a M.S. degree in industrial engineering in SuVarun Kottammer 2018. His research focused on comparing the decision-making methods expected utility, robust decision making, and information-gap for a Boeing production problem. Varun currently works as a Manufacturing Engineer for Lamont Home in Burlington, Iowa. He has graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (India). He is very interested in cricket and is a big fan of the M.S. Dhoni (former Indian cricket Captain). He also likes to cook, travel, ride motor cycles and watch the sitcom Friends in his free time.
Vrishtee Rane earned her M.S. degreeVrishtee Rane in industrial engineering in Fall 2018. Her thesis assessed a new online assessment procedure for a large engineering economics course, which is published in the special issue on education in The Engineering Economist. She currently works as quality engineering at Whirlpool in Ohio. She previously co-authored a paper on designing and manufacturing of a 3D printer based on fused deposition modelling. She has also worked as a Climate Counselor for the International Center for Culture and Education, a cause supported by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Vrishtee enjoys backpacking and trekked up to Brighu Lake (14200 feet) in the Himalayas in summer of 2012. She also enjoys dancing, travelling, and devouring different cuisines.
Brandon Landowski Brandon Landowskireceived his master’s degree in industrial engineering in Fall 2018. He researched how to incorporate of multiple decision-makers with different goals into a model aimed at preparing for and responding to large disruptions. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa in 2017. Although originally from Minnesota, he is a longtime fan of the Denver Broncos. He also enjoys experiencing the architecture and cuisine of different cultures and has a curiosity for minds like Leonardo Da Vinci. It is difficult for him to resist reading a well thought out historical fiction novel.
Kevin KorniejczukKevin Korniejczuk received his master’s in IMSE in Summer 2019. His creative component analyzed the effects of severe supply chain disruptions where multiple supplier and firm facilities are temporarily closed from a simulation model based on the 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan. Kevin currently works for Foxconn doing a combination of industrial engineering and supply chain management activities. He also previously completed two internships in manufacturing engineering with Greenheck where he learned to program their high-tech CNC punch/laser combination machines. He received the Spring 2019 Teaching Excellence Award for being an excellent teaching assistant for IE 305 Engineering Economics Analysis. He received his B.S. in Industrial Engineering, also from Iowa State University, in May 2018, becoming a first-generation college graduate. Kevin enjoys traveling, hiking, going to concerts, watching soccer, and learning to cook new dishes.
Rohit SureshRohit Suresh graduated with his Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering in Fall 2019. He is currently working on developing appropriate measurable metrics for community resilience. He was a finalist for the Society for Risk Analysis Engineering and Infrastructure Specialty Group student merit award and he received the Society Risk Analysis Defense and Security Special Group student merit award. After graduation, he would like to pursue jobs that expose him to vague but soluble engineering problems. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical engineering from Vasavi College of Engineering in 2015. He the went on to work at University of Hyderabad as a Project Assistant. He enjoys play soccer and plays very regularly. He is a big fan of Bayern Munich and follows their season very closely. He also loves traveling and collects flyers from places he has been.
Steve PaulSteve Paul graduated with his master’s degree in Industrial Engineering in Fall 2020. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Mumbai, India. His thesis modeled effective decision-making strategies for manufacturing firms during supply chain disruptions through optimization techniques. His areas of interest are process improvement and supply chain management of manufacturing industries. While a student, he was a continuous improvement engineering intern at Hillphoenix (a part of the Dover Corporation). Steve likes to work with people to solve problems in manufacturing units and intends to work in the manufacturing industry. He enjoys playing sports with soccer being his favorite.
Sourabh ChoudhariSourabh Choudhari earned his M.S. degree from IMSE in Fall 2020. He wrote a creative component that presented a case study for IE 561 Total Quality Management. The case study focused on analyzing quality problems in the assembly line of a new refrigerator. Sourabh earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pune, Maharashtra. While a student at Iowa State, Sourabh was an intern for Whirlpool.
Amro Al Kazimi graduated in 2017 with aAmro Al Kazimi B.S. in industrial engineering and a minor in economics. Amro was named the 2017 Outstanding Graduating Senior for IMSE — a wonderful achievement for a great student!. Amro is currently employed as management consultant with PWC in the United Arab Emirates. As an undergraduate research assistant, Amro wrote a paper analyzing the economic consequences of different natural disasters and other calamities, which he presented at the IEEE Systems and Information Engineering Design Symposium and the Iowa State Symposium on Undergraduate Research. He was the President of Iowa State’s Chapter of Alpha Pi Mu, the National Honor Society for industrial engineering.
Xue (Snow) BaiXue (Snow) Bai received her B.S. degree in IMSE in Fall 2017. As an undergraduate assistant, she researched the supply chain disruptions caused by the 2011 Japanese tsunami. She is interested in lean manufacturing, inventory control, and management consulting. She was the president of Chinese Students & Scholars Association, an organization that strives to serve over 2000 Chinese people here in Ames. She also worked for the Program for Women in Science and Engineering to help plan the Taking the Road Less Traveled career conferences. She was inducted into Cardinal Key Honor Society, which admits less than 1% of all juniors based on scholarship, leadership, service, and character. She had a co-op in Whirlpool Corporation as a manufacturing support engineer and interned with Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield as a process excellence consultant. She currently works for an company in Iowa who is expanding into China.
AnAndre Fristodre Fristo earned his B.S. degree in IMSE in Fall 2017. As an undergraduate research assistant, Andre researched supply chain disruptions resulting from the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Andre has worked in both the aerospace and manufacturing industries as an intern during his time at Iowa State. He is currently a summer intern in the R&D division of Seagate Technology. After receiving his B.S. degree, he plans to pursue his masters degree in engineering management and to seek employment in the aerospace industry. Andre enjoys playing basketball, weightlifting, mixed martial arts, riding his motorcycle, and spending time with friends.
Sophia HetheringtonSophia Hetherington graduated with a B.S. in IMSE. As an undergraduate research assistant, Sophia studied the effects of simulation on hurricane decision making using a hurricane simulator developed for the Marines Corps Reserve Force. While at ISU, she served as the Co-Chair of the Fall Engineering Career Fair, Risk Managment chair of her Sorority, Gamma Phi Beta, Vice President of the Order of Omega Honor Society, and President of the Cardinal Key Honor Society, Iowa State’s highest honor society. She has worked as an operations intern for ConAgra brands, a process engineering intern for MaryAnn’s Specialty foods. In 2017, she is working as an industrial engineering intern for Arconic in their aerospace and automotive manufacturing sectors.
Kevin FlynnKevin Flynn graduated with a B.S. in IMSE in 2019. As a URA, helped Anuj Mittal design an online decision support tool for the adoption of solar panels on residential rooftops. He has previously done undergrad research working with Principal Financial in Des Moines, and a rotational co-op with Husco International working in supplier quality, supply chain, and manufacturing. He enjoys golfing, baseball, and traveling.
Brannan MorrisBrannan Morris earned a B.S. in IMSE with a Sales Engineering minor at Iowa State University in 2020. As an undergraduate research assistant, researched quality issues related to the Flint Water Crisis, which we developed into a case study for a graduate course IE 561 Total Quality Management. He has worked via a co-op at Charter Manufacturing where he worked to update and refine an ISO (International Standards Organization) quality system during an internship, and implemented a new preventative maintenance program. He has studied abroad at the University of Edinburgh and enjoys rock climbing, meditation and travel.
Curtis PetersCurtis Peters is junior at Iowa State University pursuing a B.S. in IMSE. As part of the First-Year Honors Mentorship Program, he conducted research in support of the National Preparedness through simulation. Curt intends to study abroad and minor in math before pursuing a M.S. in IMSE and enjoys running, water skiing, and traveling.
Kennedy Cook Kennedy Cookgraduated with a B.S. in IMSE and a Spanish minor. As a participant in the First Year Honors Mentor Program, she assisted in researching disaster management with an emphasis on simulating capabilities-based planning. She is currently a Cyclone Aide and enjoys swimming, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.
Kudan PaudyalKudan Paudyal is a junior at Iowa State University pursuing a B.S. in IMSE. As a Boeing Research Fellow, he is researching how to successfully integrate supply chain planning with the design process. Upon graduation, Kundan intends to work in the industry as an Industrial Engineer focusing on production systems improvement. He is a big fan of soccer and enjoys playing as well as watching the sport.