Professors Ayedh Almutairi, left, and James H. Lambert, second from left, at Kuwait University

James H. Lambert, Director of the University of Virginia (UVA) Center for Risk Management of Engineering Systems, was invited to give a talk at the Kuwait University (KU) Department of Industrial & Management Systems Engineering on Dec. 20, 2022. The talk, “Evolution of Priorities in Enterprise and Systems Engineering,” included an overview of current collaborations between UVA, Virginia State University (VSU), CCALS, and the National Science Foundation’s Center for Hardware and Embedded Systems Security and Trust (NSF CHEST), including work with the Virginia Department of Aviation on sustainable fuels.

The visit was coordinated with the Council of Engineering Systems Universities, CCALS and the UVA Center for Risk Management of Engineering Systems, and is part of an ongoing collaboration between the organizations. Professor Ayedh Almutairi (UVA Ph.D. in Systems Engineering, 2017) of Kuwait University is expected to make a sabbatical faculty visit to UVA Engineering and Charlottesville in 2023 to collaborate on publications with UVA students and faculty. Almutairi has published on the Port of Virginia (POV) with CCALS coauthors, and has mentored VSU students on mathematical simulation with Simio and on technoeconomic assessment of POV strategic plans. He also has publications on fleet electric vehicles, a topic of particular interest to the POV, funded by CCALS and the NSF CHEST Center.

In addition, UVA looks forward to enrolling a fully funded Ph.D. student, Ms. Asmaa Almutairi (no relation to Ayedh Almutairi) from KU. CCALS anticipates working with Ms. Almutairi on several projects involving CCALS member universities and sponsors.