Engineering Students Awarded Summer Position With RAND

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Nabil Lehlou and Steve Sharp, Ph.D. students in industrial engineering

Two engineering students at the University of Arkansas have been awarded prestigious summer associate positions with RAND. RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis. Nabil Lehlou and Steve Sharp, doctoral students in industrial engineering, will participate in RAND's Graduate Student Summer Associate Program. The program selects outstanding graduate students to work with RAND conducting research on a wide range of national security problems and domestic and international social policy issues.

Nabil Lehlou will work in the Force Development and Technology Program of RAND Corporation. The project he will be involved in is called Understanding unmanned aerial system use in tactical operations at the brigade level and below Nabil's research interests also span health care logistics, pervasive computing, and optimization in Smart Grid Applications. His Ph.D. topic is related to the development of an intelligent system that evaluates the state of the electric grid and optimizes power generation.

Steve Sharp will be working on an inventory analysis project for the U.S. Army at RAND. His research emphasis at the University of Arkansas is on risk analysis of supply chains and will tentatively include a study the food supply chain.

The RAND program receives about 500 applications each year for the 20-plus positions. Each associate is assigned to a research project and is mentored by a senior research staff member. Associates have full access to RAND's research facilities. These include state-of-the-art computer hardware and software, a nationally acclaimed library, an extensive data facility that obtains and maintains research databases, special consulting and training services in computing, statistical analysis, and oral presentations. At the conclusion of the program each student is required to present a seminar.