Systems Engineering and Operations Research Faculty

Tianshu Feng

Tama Moni — Wed, 10 Aug 2022 14:44:41 +0000

Tianshu Feng Tama Moni Wed, 08/10/2022 - 10:44

Assistant Professor, Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research

Contact Information

Biography

Tianshu Feng's work is data-driven and centers on the systematic approach to processing, visualizing, analyzing, modeling, and examining data with complex features. This involves developing and applying novel, flexible, and reliable models via interdisciplinary collaborations in various areas, such as transportation, bioinformatics, healthcare, and finance. His research interests include machine learning and statistical modeling, explainable AI, model fairness and robustness, data exploration, and active learning.

Prior to joining Mason, Tianshu was a Quantitative Analytics Specialist at Wells Fargo. He received his PhD degree in Industrial Engineering from the �鶹�� of Washington and his Bachelor's degree in Statistics from the �鶹�� of Science and Technology of China.

Degrees

PhD, Industrial Engineering, �鶹�� of Washington
BS, Statistics, �鶹�� of Science and Technology of China

Remembering Andrew Loerch

Rena Malai — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 14:23:51 +0000

Remembering Andrew Loerch Rena Malai Tue, 06/21/2022 - 10:23

Andrew (Andy) Loerch, long-time faculty member and associate chair of the Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research, passed away June 16 after an unexpected and brief battle with cancer. Loerch had just retired on May 24, 2022 after 22 years of service to George Mason �鶹��.

“Andy was an outstanding teacher, a trusted mentor to numerous students, a researcher who brought in millions of dollars in funding, and an esteemed leader in the Military Operations Society,” says Ariela Sofer, interim divisional dean for engineering at the Volgenau School of Engineering. “Above all, I am indebted to him for his fourteen years of dedication and support service as my associate chair. He always took on departmental obligations, whether they involved big-picture matters or minute details, whether they were carefully planned activities or urgent crises. I am eternally grateful for his dedication, hard work, sage advice, and sense of humor.” 

Loerch was a 26-year veteran of the United States Army and rose to the rank of Colonel. He earned his PhD from Cornell �鶹�� and was a graduate of Naval Postgraduate School and Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. Looking back at career highlights at Mason he once said, “Part of my job was the care and feeding of our military students. I advised every single one of them and many of them have gone on to be leaders in the defense analysis field.” In addition, he was proud of some of the department’s funded work, citing an important study on how the presence of women in military units impacts the units’ effectiveness.  

Among other duties, Loerch served as a faculty marshal at the college degree celebrations and university commencement. For the past eleven years, the College of Engineering and Computing depended on his leadership to organize and coordinate faculty volunteers, a job he once described as neither trivial nor simple. His detailed charts, notes, and guidance will be a permanent reminder of this service to the community.

Loerch played with the Northern Virginia Senior Softball league; was principal bassoonist of the Manassas Symphony Orchestra since 2000 as well as a board member; he enjoyed riding his bike with the Old Cranks Cycling Club out of Vint Hill, Va. as well as taking cycling trips throughout the country. He was the ultimate New York Yankees fan.

“I am personally thankful for Andy’s invaluable support as associate chair,” says John Shortle, department chair of Systems Engineering and Operations Research. “He brought so much to the department. We will all miss his stories, sense of humor, and friendship.”

Burial will take place at Arlington National Cemetery at a future date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the Manassas Symphony Orchestra.

A celebration of life viewing was held on Saturday, June 18, 2022. Link to the service information: https://www.piercefh.com/obituaries/Andrew-Loerch/#!/Obituary

Topics

Systems Engineering and Operations Research

Systems Engineering and Operations Research Faculty

Janis Terpenny

Tama Moni — Wed, 06 Apr 2022 16:03:57 +0000

Janis Terpenny Tama Moni Wed, 04/06/2022 - 12:03

Professor, Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research and Department of Mechanical Engineering

Contact Information

Building: Nguyen Engineering,
Room 2223
Campus: Fairfax
MSN 4A6
Phone: 703-993-6207
Email: terpenny@gmu.edu

In the News

ASEE SE conference focuses on a diversely educated workforce
March 17, 2023
Janis Terpenny appointed to NSF CMMI division
July 28, 2022

Biography

Janis Terpenny is a professor with joint appointments in the Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research and the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Her research focuses on smart integrated systems and processes for design and manufacturing and on design education. Previously, she served as dean of Engineering at the �鶹�� of Tennessee, department head of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at Penn State, department chair of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering at Iowa State, technology thrust lead for the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII), director of the NSF Center for e-Design, program director at NSF, and professor at Virginia Tech and the �鶹�� of Massachusetts. She has industry work experience with GE. She is a fellow and member of ASME and IISE, and a member of AAAS, Alpha Pi Mu, ASEE, SME, and Tau Beta Pi. She is an area editor for the Engineering Economist, an editorial board member for Computers in Industry, and an Academic Senior VP on the IISE Board of Trustees. Dr. Terpenny holds a PhD and MS in industrial and systems engineering from Virginia Tech and a BS in Applied Mathematics from Virginia Commonwealth �鶹��.

Degrees

BS, Applied Mathematics, Virginia Commonwealth �鶹��
MS, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech
PhD, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech

Research Interests

Smart integrated systems and processes for design and manufacturing
On design education.

Publications

Google Scholar

Matthew Amissah

Tama Moni — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 13:01:08 +0000

Matthew Amissah Tama Moni Fri, 10/15/2021 - 09:01

Assistant Professor, Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research

Contact Information

Office: ENGR 2215
Email: mamissah@gmu.edu
Phone: 703-993-6579

Biography

Matthew Amissah is an Assistant Professor in the Systems Engineering and Operations Research department at George Mason �鶹��. His research broadly entails an application of concepts and tools from the fields of Modeling & Simulation and Systems Science to support the architecting and design of complex systems. He obtained a doctoral degree in Engineering Management & Systems Engineering from Old Dominion �鶹�� in Norfolk, Virginia.

Degree: PhD, Engineering Management & Systems Engineering
School: Old Dominion �鶹��, Norfolk VA
Research interests: Modeling & Simulation, Systems Architecture, Systems Thinking

Ali K. Raz

Martha Bushong — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 13:57:52 +0000

Ali K. Raz Martha Bushong Fri, 09/04/2020 - 09:57

Assistant Professor, Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research

Contact Information

Phone: (703) 993-4715
Building: Nguyen Engineering Building
Room 2100
Mail Stop: 4A6
Email: araz@gmu.edu

In the News

Driving Innovation: DELTA-FORCE steers army vehicles into the digital future
January 29, 2025
At Fuse topping out ceremony, student researchers predict malicious intent from drone flight patterns
February 12, 2024

Biography

Ali K. Raz is a professor in the Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research at George Mason �鶹��'s College of Engineering and Computing. His research focuses on understanding the collaborative nature of autonomy and developing systems engineering methodologies for integrating autonomous systems. Raz's research brings a systems engineering perspective, particularly inspired by complex adaptive systems, to information fusion and artificial intelligence/machine learning technologies that form the foundations of collaborative and integrated autonomous systems.

Prior to joining George Mason �鶹��, Raz was a visiting assistant professor at Purdue �鶹�� School of Aeronautics and Astronautics where he led research projects on understanding complexity in systems of systems and introducing autonomy in high-speed and hypersonic aerospace systems. Raz holds a temporary faculty appointment with the U.S. Navy Naval Surface Warfare Center at Crane, Indiana in support of complex systems and information fusion research activities and has worked with John Hopkins �鶹�� Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU-APL) and the United States Missile Defense Agency. Raz has also worked as a systems engineer for Honeywell Aerospace on flight management and flight control systems for civilian and military aircraft.

Raz is a co-chair of the International Council of Systems Engineering (INCOSE) Complex Systems Working Group and a Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP). He is also a senior member of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Degrees

PhD, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue �鶹��, West Lafayette
Master of Science, Electrical Engineering, Iowa State �鶹��
Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering, Iowa State �鶹��

Songjun Luo

Martha Bushong — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 14:19:02 +0000

Songjun Luo Martha Bushong Thu, 08/13/2020 - 10:19

Associate Professor, Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research

Contact Information

Campus: Fairfax
Building: Nguyen Engineering Building
Room 2226

Email: sluo4@gmu.edu

Biography

Songjun Luo is an Associate Professor in the SEOR department supporting the MS DAEN Program. Luo’s teaching focuses on analytics, modeling, decision analysis and capstone projects.

Prior to joining Mason, Luo had been with ZS Associates for 26 years. ZS is one of the world’s largest consulting firms specializing in sales, marketing, and commercial issues using data-driven analytical approaches. Having joined ZS in its infancy and having been a Partner for 20 years with the firm, Luo had played multiple key leadership roles in the firm, including the project lead, client lead, global practice lead, and country business lead.

Over the 26 years at ZS, Luo had worked with over 60 clients in the US and in Asia in multiple industries such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, insurance, media, and high-tech. Luo and his team routinely used statistical, simulation, and optimization methods in solving various sales and marketing problems, such as customer segmentation, pricing, forecasting, marketing mix, sales force sizing, resource allocation, performance evaluation, incentive plan design, and sales quota setting.

Luo enjoys sharing his experience in applying analytical approaches to business problems with students. Luo had taught summer courses at the School of Economics and Management at the �鶹�� of Chinese Academy of Sciences for 14 years. He had also taught short courses at top universities in Shanghai, including Fudan �鶹�� and Shanghai Jiaotong �鶹��

Degrees

PhD, Management Science/Operations Research, �鶹�� of Texas Austin
MBA, Business Management, �鶹�� of Northern Iowa
Bachelor of Science, Mathematics, Guangxi �鶹��

Shima Mohebbi

Martha Bushong — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 18:15:21 +0000

Shima Mohebbi Martha Bushong Mon, 08/10/2020 - 14:15

Assistant Professor, Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research; CEIE and CS Affiliate Faculty

Contact Information

Phone: 703-993-3069
Campus: Fairfax
Building: Nguyen Engineering Building
Room 2212
Mail Stop: MSN 4A6

Email: smohebbi@gmu.edu

Personal Websites

Lab Website

In the News

Transforming emergency response training through AI and interactive games
December 17, 2024
Mason receives NSF grant for Conservation Incentives and the Socio-Spatial Dynamics of Water Sustainability
December 9, 2021

Biography

Shima Mohebbi develops scalable mathematical models and data analytics to address grand engineering challenges focusing on societal needs. She is motivated to understand how decision-maker behavior, coupled with the inherent uncertainty in environmental systems, impacts the design and operations of cyber-physical systems. Her specific interests include game theory, simulation, stochastic models, and interpretable data mining with applications in healthcare systems, interdependent infrastructure systems, sustainable urban water systems, and smart cities. Her research is mainly supported by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Mohebbi is a core faculty of C-RASC (Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities) at Mason. She is passionate about engineering education and outreach activities. She strives to create a teaching environment that promotes problem-solving and communication skills, self-reflection, and collaboration among students. She has also served as a board director in the Modeling and Simulation Division of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers.

Prior to joining Mason, Mohebbi was an assistant professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering/Data Science and Analytics Institute at the �鶹�� of Oklahoma, and a visiting scholar at the �鶹�� of Exeter’s Center for Water Systems, UK.

Degrees

PhD, Industrial and Systems Engineering, �鶹�� of Tennessee
Master of Science, Statistics, �鶹�� of Tennessee
Masters of Science, Industrial and Systems Engineering, K.N. Toosi �鶹�� of Technology, Tehran, Iran

Art Pyster

admin_alpha — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 11:21:01 +0000

Art Pyster admin_alpha Wed, 09/07/2016 - 07:21

Associate Dean for Research in the CEC; Professor, Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research

Contact Information

Campus: Fairfax

Building: Nguyen Engineering

Phone: 703-717-8110

Email: apyster@gmu.edu

Biography

Throughout his career, Art Pyster has played leading technical, management, and executive roles in the telecommunications, aerospace, defense, air traffic control, education, and computing business sectors.

Pyster’s proudest professional accomplishments prior to coming to Mason are: (1) standing up and operating the Systems Engineering Research Center, which is a �鶹�� Affiliate Research Center and the largest and most impactful academic research program in systems engineering in the nation, (2) leading the development and operation of the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK), whose articles are accessed 80,000 times monthly and is arguably the most widely read source on systems engineering in the world, (3) applying novel engineering processes at Digital Sound Corporation to develop extremely low-defect commercial telecommunications systems; and (4) as the Federal Aviation Administration’s Deputy Chief Information Officer, leading its information security efforts, software research program, and IT policy development, and serving on the FAA's investment review board which oversaw more than $3 billion annually.

At Mason, Pyster is a professor of systems engineering, but his primary role is associate dean for research in the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC). In that capacity, Pyster oversees the CEC research portfolio which has rapidly grown to an anticipated value of over $400M with annual expenditures approaching $70M. Pyster continues to oversee the SEBoK which is sponsored by the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), the IEEE Systems Council, and the Stevens Institute of Technology. He is an INCOSE Fellow, Founders Award recipient, and Pioneer Award recipient. Pyster has authored more than 70 papers and two books.

Degrees

PhD, Computer and Information Sciences, The Ohio State �鶹��
MS, Computer and Information Science, The Ohio State �鶹��
BS, Mathematics, �鶹�� of Illinois

Elise Miller-Hooks

admin_alpha — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 09:40:01 +0000

Elise Miller-Hooks admin_alpha Sun, 08/28/2016 - 05:40

Professor and Department Chair; affiliate faculty Systems Engineering and Operations Research

Bill and Eleanor Hazel Endowed Chair

Contact Information

Phone: 703-993-1685
Campus: Fairfax
Building: Nguyen Engineering Building
Room 4614

Email: miller@gmu.edu

Related Programs

Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, MS

In the News

Mason researchers study the complicated and cascading effects of Arctic ice melt

Mason team collaborates with the World Bank to launch MASH-Pandemics

Personal Websites

Miller-Hooks' Complete Profile

Biography

For over two decades, Elise Miller-Hooks has been applying and advancing operations research concepts to civil and infrastructure systems applications.

Miller-Hooks is driven by a strong desire to make a positive impact on society, and her research program reflects this motivation. Together with her students and post-docs, she focuses on creating mathematically-based decision-support tools and algorithms that can be used to design, manage, operate, maintain, and protect the built environment. Her research has been supported by various sources, including private organizations, non-profits, and local, national, and international government agencies.

Miller-Hooks holds a PhD in Civil Engineering and an MS in Engineering from the �鶹�� of Texas - Austin, as well as a BS in Civil Engineering from Lafayette College. Prior to joining Mason, she served as a program director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and on the faculties of the �鶹�� of Maryland, Pennsylvania State �鶹��, and Duke �鶹��. Now, Miller-Hooks holds the Bill and Eleanor Hazel Endowed Chair in Infrastructure Engineering in the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering at George Mason �鶹��.

Research Spotlight:

Elise Miller-Hooks is one of the faculty members diving into how melting ice in the Arctic will affect the people, habitats, and social fabric of the remote region. She says the team’s work has opened her eyes to the interconnectedness of our world. Although she has traveled around the globe, she never thought she would visit the Arctic—it seemed so distant and remote. “I realize now that we are all in this together. What happens in Nuuk, Greenland or Barrow, Alaska affects us all.”
Read more about this research or watch the video below.

Teaching Interests:

Civil Infrastructure Systems Modeling
Transportation Systems Engineering
Network Algorithms
Multi-Objective Decision-Making

Research Interests:

Multi-Hazard Civil Infrastructure Resilience Quantification
Disaster Planning, Evacuation, and Response
Stochastic and Dynamic Network Algorithms
Mathematical Modeling and Optimization
Transportation Systems Engineering
Intermodal Passenger and Freight Transport
Alternative Modes (Paratransit, Ridesharing, Bikeways)
Real-Time Routing and Fleet Management
Incident Management
Transportation Infrastructure Investment for Climate Uncertainty
Collaborative and Multi-Objective Decision-Making

Rochelle Jones

admin_alpha — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 05:31:00 +0000

Rochelle Jones admin_alpha Wed, 08/03/2016 - 01:31

Associate Professor, Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research

Contact Information

Phone: 703-993-1663
Campus: Fairfax
Building: Nguyen Engineering Building
Room 2103
Mail Stop: 4A6

Email: rjones42@gmu.edu

Biography

Rochelle Jones is committed to providing her students with a strong foundation in systems engineering methodologies and tools, equipping them to become valuable contributors to both industry and society. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in systems engineering principles, systems engineering management, and human factors engineering. Her teaching philosophy centers on developing students’ ability to see the “big picture” by understanding how systems interact within larger systems, while also strengthening their communication and collaboration skills. She challenges students to analyze systems holistically while considering the user experience — identifying pain points, understanding users' capabilities and limitations, and designing solutions that are inclusive and effective for diverse populations.

Before transitioning to academia, Jones spent over 14 years as a Systems Engineer and Project Manager at Lockheed Martin, and she brings that real-world experience into the classroom. Her primary research interests include engineering education — developing instructional strategies that help students connect classroom concepts to real-world applications and increasing the retention and sense of belonging of undergraduate engineering students across disciplines. She is passionate about creating learning environments that empower students to integrate knowledge across domains and develop systems-thinking mindsets. Above all, she finds joy in helping future engineers acquire the skills and perspectives they need to address the grand challenges facing our global society.

Degrees

PhD, Industrial Engineering (Concentration in Ergonomics and Human Factors), �鶹�� of Central Florida
MS, Systems Engineering, George Mason �鶹��
BS, Systems Engineering, George Mason �鶹��

Research Interests

Engineering Education
Systems Engineering Principles
Human Factors