Faculty

Background

Shahram Sarkani, Ph.D., P.E., is a Professor of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, and Faculty Adviser and Academic Director of SEAS Online Programs (since 2001), at the George Washington University. Professor Sarkani joined the GW faculty in 1986. His previous administrative appointments include chair of the Civil, Mechanical, and Environmental Engineering Department (1994-1997) and Interim Associate Dean for Research, School of Engineering and Applied Science (1997-2001).

In over 500 technical publications and presentations, his research in systems engineering, systems analysis, and applied enterprise systems engineering has application to risk analysis, structural safety, and reliability. He has conducted sponsored research with such organizations as NASA, NIST, NSF, U.S. AID, and the U.S. Departments of Interior, Navy, and Transportation.

Recent Awards:

• Engineering Management Journal's Ted Eschenbach Best EMJ Journal Paper Award, 2010 (with Merritt & Mazzuchi)
• Inducted into the Civil and Environmental Engineering Hall of Distinction, Louisiana State University, 2010
• Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, American Society of Civil Engineers, 1999

Professor Sarkani holds the Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Rice University, and B.S. and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering from Louisiana State University. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Virginia.

Background

Thomas Mazzuchi, D.Sc., received a B.A. in Mathematics from Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA; and an M.S. and a D.Sc., both in Operations Research from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Before taking on his current faculty and administrative appointments at GW, he served as Chair of the Department of Operations Research, and as Interim Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Dr. Mazzuchi has been engaged in consulting and research in the areas of reliability and risk analysis and systems engineering techniques for over 25 years. He served for two and a half years as a research mathematician at the international operations and process research laboratory of the Royal Dutch Shell Company. While at Shell, Dr. Mazzuchi was involved with reliability and risk analysis of large processing systems, maintenance optimization of off-shore platforms, and quality control procedures at large-scale chemical plants.

In his academic career, he has held research contracts in development of testing procedures for both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Army, in spares provisioning modeling with the U. S. Postal Service, in mission assurance with NASA, and in maritime safety and risk assessment with the Port Authority of New Orleans, the Washington Office of Marine Safety, Washington State Department of Transportation, and the San Francisco Bay Area Transit Authority.

Recent Awards:

• Elected Member: International Statistics Institute; Washington Academy of Sciences
• Leo Schubert Award for Excellence in Teaching of Science in College, 1997

Background

Dr. Belkhayat is a principal scientist with Huntington Ingalls serving as a power and energy subject matter expert. He has been working in the field for over 25 years.

He earned the Ph.D. in Energy Systems from Purdue University in 1997. The stability methods he developed in his thesis became a standard approach in the IEEE literature. He has published numerous papers on the stability of integrated DC and AC power systems, and he holds several patents in the field. His research spans a wide range of energy sources and conversion machines, including nuclear, hydrocarbon, wind, solar, sea waves., medium voltage power electronics, and rotating machinery.

Dr. Belkhayat taught energy conversion, controls, and modeling and simulation at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and at Qatar University before joining the George Washington University faculty as an adjunct professor.

Background

Tim Blackburn, Ph.D., P.E., is a Summa Cum Laude graduate from the William States Lee College of Engineering (UNC-Charlotte) and also holds an M.B.A. from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business (UNC-Chapel Hill). He received the Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from George Washington University.

He is a licensed Professional Engineer, and holds a Black Belt in Six Sigma. Currently, he is Professorial Lecturer in Engineering Management and Systems Engineering at GW, and is the North America Lead for Technical Learning and Capability at Pfizer.

His affiliations (current or previous) include Tau Alpha Pi and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Societies for academic achievement, the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers (ISPE), American Society for Quality (ASQ), Pharma Engineering Roundtable, International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), International Foundation Process Analytical Chemistry (IFPAC), and American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES).

Background

Amir Etemadi joined GW’s Electrical & Computer Engineering Department faculty in 2013 and its SEAS Online faculty in 2017.

He has conducted research in control and operation of renewable energy systems, design and development of microgrids, and optimization and reliability of power systems. His current research, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, focuses on geomagnetic disturbances and their impact on power system operation. His publications have appeared in such journals as IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grids, Energies, and Electric Power Systems Research.

Dr. Etemadi has taught courses on electrical engineering fundamentals, advanced power systems and power electronic, reliability, and probability and statistics. He received his B.Sc. from the University of Tehran (2005), M.Sc. from Sharif University of Technology (2007), and Ph.D. from the University of Toronto (2012), all in Electrical Engineering. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Select Publications:

• Rezaei-Zare, A., A. H. Etemadi, and R. Iravani, “Challenges of Power Converter Operation and Control under Ferroresonance Conditions,” accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery.
• Yi, Z. and A. Etemadi, “Fault Detection for Photovoltaic Systems Based on Multi-Resolution Signal Decomposition and Fuzzy Inference Systems,” accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Smart Grids.
• Alqurashi, A., A. H. Etemadi, and A. Khodaei, “Treatment of Uncertainty for Next Generation Power Systems: State of the Art in Stochastic Optimization,” Electric Power Systems Research, vol. 141, pp. 233 – 245, Dec. 2016.
• Etemadi, A. H. and R. Iravani, “Supplementary Mechanisms for Smooth Transition between Control Modes in a Microgrid,” Electric Power Systems Research, vol. 142, pp. 249–257, Jan. 2017.

Background

Thomas Holzer, D.Sc., has been Adjunct Professor of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering at George Washington University, Washington, D.C., since 1999. He is the former Director, Engineering Management Office, Enterprise Operations Directorate, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

He has over 35 years of experience in lifecycle systems engineering, leading large-scale information technology programs, and process improvement initiatives. Dr. Holzer was responsible for the strategic evolution of the National System for Geospatial-Intelligence technical and operational infrastructure architectures; assuring the integrity of the systems engineering performed; and development of a proficient systems engineering workforce.

Dr. Holzer has D.Sc. and M.S. degrees in Engineering Management from George Washington University and a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati.

Background

James Moreland, Ph.D., currently serves as Deputy Director for Naval Warfare, Tactical Warfare Systems, in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. He previously served as Chief Engineer for the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division.

Dr. Moreland earned the Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from George Washington University; M.S. in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces; M.S. in Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech; and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland. He is Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act Level III certified in the Systems Planning, Research, Development, and Engineering and Program Management career fields.

Recent Awards:

• Four Meritorious Unit Awards
• Navy Superior and Distinguished Civilian Service Awards
• Numerous NAVSEA and NSWCDD awards
• Multiple best technical paper awards from the American Society of Naval Engineers and INCOSE

Background

Shahryar Sarkani, D.Sc., is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. He has over 20 years of experience in the field of software engineering focusing on architecture and design.

Dr. Sarkani earned the D.Sc. in Systems Engineering from George Washington University, an M.S. in Mathematics from the University of New Orleans, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Louisiana State University.