Dr. Broniatowski, Director of the Decision Making and Systems Architecture Laboratory, conducts research in decision making under risk, group decision making, the design and analysis of complex systems, and behavioral epidemiology. This research program draws upon a wide range of techniques including formal mathematical modeling, experimental design, automated text analysis and natural language processing, social and technical network analysis, and big data. His work on systematic distortions of public opinion about vaccines on social media by state-sponsored trolls has been widely reported in the academic and popular press. 

Dr. Francis’s group conducts research in engineering education and infrastructure management, including sustainability assessment and risk analysis; regulatory risk assessment and policy-focused research, especially for environmental contaminants and infrastructure systems; and, statistical/mathematical modeling approaches to decision support. 

The Gralla Research Group studies decision-making in real-world contexts, including disaster response operations and systems engineering and design, using methods from systems engineering, operations research, and management.

The Technology Change Lab conducts interdisciplinary research that explores relationships between technological change and factors that shape it, such as consumer behavior, market dynamics, and policy. We apply a systems engineering perspective to better understand these relationships and to inform policy, with an emphasis on accelerating transitions to cleaner technologies.

Dr. Santos conducts research in the domains of systems engineering, risk analysis, and economic input-output analysis for managing disaster consequences on interdependent infrastructure networks and economic systems. His team was involved in FEMA’s “Mitigation Saves” project, which has been cited by The US Congress “Promoting Flood Risk Mitigation Act” (H.R.5846). 

SysMoLED conducts research at the interface of systems engineering and engineering management with an emphasis on thematic areas including modeling of systems interdependence, mathematical programming and optimization, technology management, the economics of environmental change and technology policy.

The SzajnLab research group studies the design and development of complex systems, primarily in the aerospace and defense sectors. Their work is deeply empirical and considers both the organization and technical system architectures to “design-in” an ability to achieve performance goals across extended and highly uncertain operational lifetimes. Recent projects examine the nature and function of scientific and technical expertise in the design process, particularly in the context of open innovation. 

General themes have been the development of formal methods integrating expert judgment, distribution theory, available data and Monte Carlo methods/simulation. Applied research domains of special interest include: maritime risk assessment and management, probabilistic risk assessment, reliability analysis, expert judgment elicitation, statistical dependence modeling, and engineering uncertainty analysis. 

Research interests lie in the development of mathematical models and algorithms for optimization problems encountered in various activities such as health care, logistics, and environmental protection. Recent projects include the optimization of cancer treatment planning, vehicle routing problems, scheduling of health care workers, and reducing rainforest deforestation.