Renee Butler, Ph.D., P.E.
Assistant Professor, Systems Engineering Program Coordinator
Email: rbutler@spsu.edu
Office: M119

Renee Butler received her B.S. in Industrial Engineering in 1996, her M.S. in Operations Research in 1999, and her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering in 2003 from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her graduate work focused on strategic and robust supply chain design. Dr. Butler is currently focused on the modeling and analysis of problems and algorithms in supply chain management, logistics, and transportation, with particular focus on addressing uncertainty. Currently, Dr. Butler is working on modeling and optimizing an agile supply chain for a semi-conductor manufacturer and modeling vehicle routing for delivering interlibrary loan materials.

In addition to her university experience, Dr. Butler has worked for M&M, Mars, Inc. and The Torrington Company. While at Torrington, she developed a strategy for implementing manufacturing cells including the factory layout, implemented lean manufacturing tools, and facilitated a cross-functional team to implement process improvements. Previously at Mars, she conducted statistical analyses of product quality, machine downtime and staffing levels.

Ruston Hunt, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Quality Assurance and Systems Engineering
E-mail: RHunt@SPSU.edu
Phone: 678-915-7338
Office: M 122

Dr. Hunt received his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois in 1981. He also holds an MSIE and BSIE from the University of Illinois. His graduate work focused on the development of general problem solving skills via computer-based training. At SPSU Dr. Hunt teaches graduate courses in Quality Assurance and Systems Engineering.

Dr. Hunt was an Assistant Professor in Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech in 1981 and 1982. He left Georgia Tech to devote full time to Search Technology, Inc., a contract research firm that he co-founded while in graduate school. While at Search Technology for over 20 years, Dr. Hunt participated in applied research and development in the areas of Human Factors and Man-Machine Systems. Customers included NASA, Naval Air Warfare Center, Army Research Institute, Air Force Behavioral Technology Laboratory, Electrical Power Research Institute and many commercial firms both large and small.

Dr. Hunt’s areas of interest include human-centered system design and evaluation. Since 1985 he has also served as an expert witness on product liability cases, primarily involving issues of product warnings.

David C. Frye. Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor, Systems Engineering
E-mail: david.c.frye@lmco.com

Dr. Frye is a Senior Staff Systems Engineer with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Advanced Development Programs. He has worked on numerous systems engineering and operations research projects and has conducted a number of studies in the areas of life cycle cost, cost and operational effectiveness analysis, and combat modeling and simulation.

Dave was an officer in the U.S. Army; his assignments included tours as a platoon leader, company commander, operations research analyst, and assistant professor at the US Military Academy. While on active duty, he earned a Master of Science in Systems Management from the University of Southern California and a Master of Science in Operations Research from Georgia Tech.

Since retiring from the Army Dave has had several challenging and enjoyable jobs. Initially he worked for an engineering management consulting firm where he had some interesting engagements with the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games and the Atlanta Housing Authority. Moving on to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics he worked on a variety of systems engineering assignments including aircraft system requirements management, life cycle cost analysis, and cost engineering. During this first stint at Lockheed Martin he earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial Engineering, with a concentration in Engineering Economic Decision Analysis.

Dave moved on to work for a short time in the software development industry for company specializing in revenue optimization software. His responsibilities included optimization algorithm development and statistical analysis. Dave returned to LM Aero where he is a senior staff engineer. He works on a variety of projects, delving into the analysis of military operations, life cycle costs, and mobility modeling and simulation.

Kenneth W. Jackson, Ph.D., P.E.
Assistant Professor, Quality Assurance and Systems Engineering
Office-M112
E-mail: KJackso3@SPSU.edu
Phone 678-915-3518

Dr. Ken Jackson received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He also holds an M.S.M.E and a M.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering-O.R. from Georgia Tech. and he received his B.S.M.E from Auburn University. Prior to joining Southern Polytechnic State University he worked for 15 years at the Bell Laboratories as a Consulting and a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff. At Bell Labs Dr. Jackson worked on the design, development and commercialization of a wide variety of optical fiber products and manufacturing processes.

Before going to the labs, he worked for the Western Electric Company in manufacturing, product engineering and defense activities. Dr. Jackson's technical interests include applying innovative methods to improve industrial systems' performance, productivity, and quality and the development and use of system-structured design methods to reduce the cost and increase the quality of new products. Dr. Jackson holds 17 patents and has published/presented 21 technical papers. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Georgia, a member of the American Statistical Association and the ASME.

Mary McShane-Vaughn, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Quality Assurance Program Coordinator
E-mail: MVaughn@SPSU.edu
Phone: 678-915-7242
Office: M 119

Dr. Mary McShane Vaughn has a Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Statistics from Georgia Tech. She received her undergraduate Industrial Engineering degree from General Motors Institute. Her main research interests are Robust Experimental Design and Pricing Optimization Models.

Prior to teaching at Southern Polytechnic, Dr. McShane Vaughn was employed as a quality engineer and statistician at General Motors, Kendall Healthcare, Consumers Union, Delta Air Lines and Manugistics. At Manugistics, Dr. McShane Vaughn was instrumental in developing a new Market Response Model Methodology used in price optimization (patent pending). She has consulted internationally, developing bid and promotion pricing optimization models for companies in Japan, Australia and the UK.

Senay Solak, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Quality Assurance and Systems Engineering
E-mail: ssolak@spsu.edu
Office: M 114

Dr. Senay Solak received his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2007. He also holds an M.S. in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the United States Naval Academy. In addition to his university experience, Dr. Solak has served as a naval officer for seven years, and worked as an analyst in the Planning Department of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Dr. Solak teaches courses in Operations Research, Simulation and Statistics to students in industrial engineering and business administration both at the graduate and undergraduate levels. His primary research interest is in the development of deterministic/stochastic models and solution methods for logistics system design and control. Of particular interest are problems related to network design and air transportation planning. His secondary interests include portfolio optimization for capital investment projects.

Christina R. Scherrer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Quality Assurance and Systems Engineering
Email: cscherre@spsu.edu
Office: M121

Dr. Christina R. Scherrer received her Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2005. She also holds Bachelors and Masters degrees of Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Tech. Her main research interests are dynamic pricing and applying industrial engineering tools to the public sector.

Currently she is working on optimal locations and service selection for community health centers, modeling of chronic disease detection programs, and vehicle routing for food banks.  While a student at Georgia Tech, she worked for Delta Air Lines in the pricing and operations reliability groups in addition to spending one year teaching high school mathematics in Fulton County.