People
Of course, all my work would not be possible without the help of graduate students. I am currently advising five graduate students. They have each provided a brief bio sketch below. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see where past advisees are now
Current Students
German Velasquez Diaz
I am currently a Ph.D. student in Industrial and Systems Engineering at NC State University. My academic background includes a B.S. and M.S. in Industrial Engineering, both from Universidad Del Norte, Barranquilla, Columbia. I also have a Master’s degree in Quality and Productivity from Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico. I worked in the paper and packaging industry for 10 years and also lectured at the undergraduate level before returning to graduate school.
My research interest is in humanitarian logistics. Specifically, I am interested in developing models and heuristics for pre-positioning resources in preparation for a disaster.
In my spare time, I enjoy watching TV series, listening to music, playing guitar, biking, and SCUBA diving.
Breanna Swan
I started the PhD program in Industrial and Systems Engineering at NCSU in the fall of 2016. I completed my undergraduate degree in Mathematical Physics from Viterbo University in La Crosse, WI, and a Masters degree in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.
My current research is focused on improving the screening process for diabetic retinopathy through a partnership with an ophthalmology office and their novel screening technology. Two aspects of care delivery I am focusing on are 1) increasing the positive predictive ability of the screening device by integrating patient demographics, comorbidities, and other risk factors into the diagnosis and 2) optimizing the structural aspects of screening such as determining where and when the device should be available to maximize patient adherence to screening recommendations.
Outside of studies, I enjoy taking advantage of the NC weather by spending time in state parks, reading books in the sunshine, and watching football (Go Pack Go).
Kendall McKenzie
I am a Ph.D. student in Industrial and Systems Engineering at NC State University. I received my B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2010, where I also concentrated in Mathematics and Scientific Visualization. I worked in industry as a production manager for two years before returning to graduate school.
My research is focused on industrial engineering applications in health care and humanitarian logistics. Specifically, I am currently using simulation modeling to investigate (1) the relationship between breast cancer risk and diabetes medications and (2) the optimal assignment of spontaneous volunteers to tasks following a disaster. The first paper regarding the breast cancer/diabetes model, A Framework for Modeling the Complex Interaction between Breast Cancer and Diabetes, was published in the 2014 Winter Simulation Conference Proceedings. I have completed the Health Systems Certificate Program at NCSU, which included two health systems courses, a facility redesign project for an active chemotherapy clinic, and an internship as a Health System Specialist at the Durham VA Medical Center.
My personal interests include art, interior design, logic puzzles, and traveling. I also love spending time outdoors with my husband, Noah, and our dog, Ellie.
Sidd Nambiar
I’m a Ph.D. student in Industrial and Systems Engineering here at NC State University. My academic background includes a B.Tech (2013) in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati and an M.S (2015) in Industrial Engineering from the University at Buffalo, SUNY.
My research interests lie in applying stochastic modeling towards improving healthcare outcomes and processes. Currently, I am working on two collaborative projects. The first is a detailed simulation model of colorectal cancer screening built on AnyLogic simulation software. The second is an analytical model of resource allocation, using Queueing Network and Markov Decision Process models for patients suffering from sepsis. Details regarding my research interests and past write-ups can be found on my website.
On weekends or when I want to take breaks from work, I enjoy playing tennis, blogging, PC gaming or searching for my next travel destination.
Rachel Townsley
I am a doctoral student at North Carolina State University’s department of Industrial Engineering. I received my Bachelors degree from the University of Arkansas, and I worked briefly in industry prior to beginning my graduate studies in 2012.
My research interests are in stochastic processes and health systems. Specifically, I am interested in modeling patient choices and behaviors impacting health outcomes.
Recent Alumni
Shakiba Enayti
Congratulations to Shakiba who graduated in August 2017. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Business Analytics at SUNY Plattsburgh, .
Shakiba graduated in August 2017 with a Ph.D. Operations Research. She completed my undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering at Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST) in Tehran, Iran in 2009 and received her M.S. degree in Industrial Engineering at Tarbiat Modares University (TMU) in Tehran, Iran in 2012.
Her research was in combinatorial optimization and stochastic programming in health care. Specifically, her dissertation related to ambulance redeployment problems with restricted workload for EMS personnel. She developed a linear binary model, for dynamically relocating idle available ambulances assuming that the closest ambulance will be dispatched to an incoming call. She also worked on stochastic programming models for relocation and districting.
Zinan Yi
Congratulations to Zinan who graduated in August 2016. She is currently an Analyst at Research Triangle International (RTI), NC.
Zinan graduated in August 2016 with a Ph.D. Operations Research. She received her B.S. in Information and Computing Science from Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China, and her M.S. in Probability and Statistics from Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Her research interest was the application of Operations Research in health care. Her research at NCSU was about smoking cessation, developing a comprehensive stochastic model for the cessation process in order to understand its complex dynamics.
Justin Wolczynski
Congratulations to Justin who graduated in Spring 2015. He is currently a Data Analyst for the National Board of Medical Examiners in Philadelphia, PA.
Justin graduated in Spring 2015 with an M.S. in Operations Research from NC State University. Before moving to Raleigh, he received his B.A. in Mathematics and a minor in French from Ithaca College in New York.
While at NCSU, Justin researched OR applications to the problem of emergency management, specifically the management of spontaneous volunteers in the wake of a disaster. His thesis was entitled The Optimal Assignment of Spontaneous Volunteers. Justin’s other academic interests included optimization, dynamic programming, and uncertainty quantification.
David Cornejo
Congratulations to David who graduated in Summer 2015. He is currently a Senior Information Analyst at Caterpillar in their Analytics Innovation Division.
David graduated in Summer 2015 with a Ph.D. in Operations Research from NC State University. Before arriving at NC State, he completed his undergraduate degree in Economics with a minor in Mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2010 and earned a masters degree in economics at the University of Virginia in 2011.
At NCSU, David’s research focused on combining the tools of economics, which describe how individuals behave, with the predictive and optimization tools of Operations Research/Systems Engineering. His dissertation centered on developing a discrete event simulation model to analyze the effect of individual screening behavior on health outcomes for colon cancer. Details on how this simulation model and model of individual choice were developed can be found in the paper “Improving Outcomes via Better Choices: Applications in Colorectal Cancer Screening.”
While at NCSU he served as the Vice President and Secretary of the INFORMS Student Chapter at NCSU. In 2013, he received an outstanding Teaching Assistant award from the Department of Computer Science. You can connect with David and learn more about his continuing work by visiting his personal website.
Kanchala Sudtachat
Congratulations to Kanchala, who graduated in May 2014. She is currently an Assistant Professor in Thailand.
Kanchala was a Ph.D. student in the Industrial Engineering Department at Clemson University who graduated in 2014. After completing her undergraduate education at the Khon Kaen University (KKU), Thailand, in 2002, she pursued graduate study in Industrial Engineering at Chulalongkorn University. She received a B.S in Industrial Engineering in 2005 from Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Kanchala was a lecturer at the school of manufacturing engineering at the Institute of Engineering at Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. She was awarded the Ph.D. Thai Government Science and Technology Scholarship to study abroad in the area of Industrial Engineering in 2010.
Her dissertation was about operations research, applying both deterministic and stochastic process to solve a blood inventory problem. She focused on a dynamic programming method and other optimization methods to place orders at the optimal point.
Other Alumni
- Héctor H. Toro Díaz – Ph.D. Aug 2013, Dissertation title “Joint Location and Dispatching Decisions for Emergency Medical Service Systems,” Biosource Corporation
- Damintha Bandara – Ph.D. Aug 2012, Dissertation title “Different Dispatching Strategies for Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Systems,” Clemson University
- Sunarin Chanta – M.S. Aug 2011, King Mongkut’s University of Technology
- Odette Reifsnider – Ph.D. Aug 2011, Dissertation title “Stochastic Modeling to Predict Health and Economic Outcomes Associated with Clinical Processes,” United Biosource Corporation
- Mark H. McElreath – Ph.D. Dec 2010, Dissertation title “Locational Choice Models for Assortment Planning with Multiple Quality Levels of Products,” UPS Analytics Group
- Greg Gunn – M.S. May 2010, Bank of America
- Danielle McDonnell– M.S. Aug 2009, INTUITIVE Research and Technology Corp.
- Neal Morgan – M.S. Dec 2009, Cap Gemini
- Ramesh Arumugam – M.S. Dec 2008, Bank of America
- Valerie Devera – Honor’s Thesis, May 2008, Northrop Grumman
- Derek Mrozik – Honor’s Thesis, May 2008, General Electric