Professor Beamon's research uses quantitative methods (discrete-event simulation, mathematical modeling, and statistics) to develop management policies for humanitarian relief and sustainable supply chain and production systems.  Her research work has been supported by the University of Washington's Innovation Fund, The Fritz Institute, The Boeing Company, Flow International Corporation, LensCrafters, Pierre Foods, Medtronic Physio-Control, and the National Science Foundation

Professor Beamon is a member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers and INFORMS and currently serves as Associate Editor for the International Journal of Modelling and Simulation.  In 2008, she received the Institute of Industrial Engineer's Curriculum Innovation Award.  Professor Beamon received her PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, her MS in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University, and her BS in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University.

Professor Tom Furness is a pioneer in the development of interfaces between humans and complex machines. He has been a crusader for the past 24 years for building aircraft cockpits which take into account the perceptual organization of the human. Most of his work has centered on the concept of virtual interface technologies which prove a circumambience of three dimensional spatial information to the human using the visual, auditory and tactile sensory modalities. His current research involves the comprehensive development of affordable virtual interface technologies for industry and consumers with applications in medical imaging, virtual prototyping, prostheses for the handicapped, virtual classrooms and televirtuality. Prior to joining the University of Washington, Professor Furness served as the Chief of the Visual Display Systems Branch, Human Engineering Division of the Armstrong Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory (USAF), Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. While in this position, he developed and evaluated visually-coupled systems and virtual interface concepts to improve the communication of information and control functions with the pilot and in 1986 he organized the Super Cockpit program for the Air Force and served as the program director until leaving for the UW.

Professor Furness has lectured widely and written numerous technical articles associated with human interaction with complex machines and the use of virtual interfaces. He has made a number of television appearances including NOVA and CBS, BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC science programs. He is a member of the Human Factors Society, Association of Computing Machinery, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Society for Information Display. Professor Furness is co-editor with Prof. Thomas Sheridan at MIT of PRESENCE: The Journal of Teleoperators and Virtual Environments. He received his Ph.D in Engineering and Applied Science from the University of Southampton, England.

Professor Archis Ghate's area of interest is Operations Research. In particular, he works on design, analysis and application of stochastic search algorithms based on Markov Chains and Game Theory to optimize complex systems. He is mainly interested in applications from manufacturing, operations management, healthcare, transportation, finance and e-commerce. His recent projects include optimization of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy to cancer patients at the University of Washington Medical Center and performance improvements in the Radiology Department at the Harborview Medical Center. Earlier he also worked on large-scale optimization problems in joint optimization of capital investment, revenue mangement, production planning and sales in manufacturing systems. In addition to these areas, Professor Ghate also focuses on research in the theory of Mathematical Programming and Applied Probability.

Professor Ghate is a member of IIE and INFORMS. He received an MS in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University and a PhD in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Professor Kailash (Kal) C. Kapur's research focuses on customer centered approach for quality and reliability engineering; system design, control and optimization; and integrated quality management system (IQMS), which also includes all the elements of six sigma. As a leader in the field of reliability, he is working to extend the area to include multi-state network reliability, as well as, applying these new principles to the evaluation of supply chain networks. In the area of six sigma implementation, he is focusing on the application of these principles to homeland security. His research in six sigma has also addressed optimization and modeling strategies for design for six sigma. He has done extensive consulting in reliability design and management, quality engineering, including Taguchi Methods and design of experiments, statistical process control and total quality management.

Professor Kapur has co-authored the book Reliability in Engineering Design, John Wiley & Sons. He has written chapters on reliability and quality engineering for several handbooks such as Industrial Engineering and Mechanical Design. He has published over sixty papers in technical, professional, and research journals and has recently given keynote addresses at international conferences. He is a member of the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS), the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), the American Society for Quality (ASQ), and the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). Professor Kapur has received funding from NSF, the US Army, and companies such as General Motors and Ford. Professor Kapur received The Allan Chop Technical Advancement Award from the Reliability Division and The Craig Award from the Automotive Division of ASQ. He was elected a Fellow of ASQ and IIE. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

Professor Christina Mastrangelo's research is in the area of quality engineering concentrating on multivariate modeling methods for dynamic systems, where she has established herself as a leader in the research of correlated data streams. This research area is at the cutting edge of current work in quality control. It reflects the nature of newer manufacturing processes, characterized by short runs and the need for rapid detection of small shifts in processes. While there is general applicability of these techniques, the industry which has the greatest immediate need of further development and application of these research results is the semi-conductor manufacturing industry. Professor Manstrangelo has developed ties with major companies in this industry, including those with ties to the Northwest such as Intel. Her research has been funded by NSF, including a Career Award, as well as numerous companies such as Capital One and Boeing.

Professor Mastrangelo is an editorial board member for the Journal of Quality Technology and IIE Transactions on Quality and Reliability. She is a leader in the American Society of Quality Control/American Statistical Association and the Institute of Industrial Engineers. Her society memberships include the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), American Society for Quality (ASQ), American Statistical Association (ASA), Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences, International Council on System Engineering, and Women in Engineering Program Advocates Network. She received her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Arizona State University.

Professor Richard Storch is a leading researcher in productivity improvement as applied to shipbuilding. His work involves a variety of topics including dimensional quality control, work organization, lean implementation and system design, and design for production. Large assembly industries such shipbuilding face challenges in adapting and implementing modern manufacturing approaches. Professor Storch's major on-going research has involved the definition and adaptation of group technology and mass customization for shipbuilding. The principles of group technology applied to the manufacturing and assembly operations, and mass customization applied to design, are critical to moving away from one-of-a-kind or custom production. Professor Storch's recent work has focused on a new definition of the design process, which allows for rational decision-making in choosing the proper stage at which to employ mass customization while still satisfying customer requirements for the end product. His other on-going work has involved the definition of lean principles for shipyards including flow, visual controls, quality and dimensional control, work station design, and material management.

Professor Storch is the lead author of the text Ship Production and publishes frequently in the Journal of Ship Production and Production Planning and Control. He also commonly presents his research findings at the Ship Production Symposium and the International Conference on Computer Applications in Shipbuilding. He is a member of the Ship Production Committee, the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME), International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) Work Group 5.7, Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), and American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE), and serves as the editor of the Journal of Ship Production and on the editorial board of the Journal of Marine Science and Technology. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington.

Professor Zelda Zabinsky's research in global optimization is internationally recognized. Her recent book, titled Stochastic Adaptive Search in Global Optimization, presents presents theory on algorithms for large-scale non-convex optimization that has led to innovative methods that are computationally efficient. One of the methods has been applied to the optimal design of stiffened composite panels with manufacturing constraints. This research has led to a design tool in use by Boeing engineers for the design of large composite structures (e.g. composite fuselage or wing). Providing engineering with the capability to optimally design cost-effective composite structures will increase the competitiveness of US-based industries including the aerospace industry, and other industries (e.g. design of composite engine hoods or body panels). Professor Zabinsky is also developing efficient optimization methodologies to address uncertainty within a complex system. One of her projects is to apply optimization to the management of air traffic flow under stochastic weather conditions to reduce airline delay. She is currently investigating optimization under uncertainty for preparedness and response in emergency response situations, funded by the Department of Homeland Security. Similar issues arise in supply chain optimization and logistics where the production and distribution decisions are affected by randomness in demand, transportation time, and other unplanned disruptions. Other applications of Operations Research that she has worked on include manufacturing, production, transportation, health care, and forestry.

Professor Zabinsky has published numerous papers in the areas of global optimization, algorithm complexity, and optimal design of composite structures. Her work has appeared in Mathematical Programming, Journal of Global Optimization and the international journal Composite Structures. Her research has been funded by Boeing Commercial Airplane Company, NASA, FAA, and NSF. She is a member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS) and the Mathematical Programming Society (MPS). She received her Ph.D. in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan.