Two new faculty members are joining the Department of Industrial Engineering this fall, professors Joseph Geunes and Wanpracha 'Art' Chaovalitwongse.

Geunes holds the John and Mary Lib White Systems Integration Chair. An active researcher in the area of production and logistics planning, supply chain management, and operations research, Geunes received his doctorate in 1999 from Penn State, and was designated as a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial and System Engineers in 2015. He has co-authored more than 55 scholarly articles published in peer-reviewed journals, including Operations Research, Mathematical Programming, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management (M&SOM), Naval Research Logistics, and IIE Transactions. In addition, he has co-edited four books, authored two books, and is currently a department editor for IISE Transactions and Area Editor for Omega.

Chaovalitwongse holds the Twenty-First Century Research Leadership Chair and will serve as co-director for the Institute for Advanced Data Analytics at the University of Arkansas. The institute will serve as a bridge between the U of A and various industries for developing practical, implementable solutions to industry issues and problems as well as a source of continuing education in data analytics.

Chaovalitwongse received his M.S. and doctorate in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Florida in 2000 and 2003 and B.E. in Telecommunication Engineering from King Mongkut Institute of Technology at Ladkrabang, Bangkok, Thailand. His research group conducts extensive analytics research, ranging from basic computational science and statistics, applied mathematical modeling, and translational research at the interface of engineering, medicine, and other emerging disciplines. He holds three patents of novel optimization techniques adopted in the development of seizure prediction systems. He is a recipient of the 2006 National Science Foundation CAREER Award and serves as the President of the Association of Thai Professionals in America and Canada (ATPAC).