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Alexa Prince is a second-year student at Penn State University studying Business Management. She is involved in undergraduate research in Innovative Thinking Skills.

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Sadan Kulturel‐Konak is a Professor of Management Information Systems and the Director of Flemming Creativity, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CEED) Center at Penn State Berks. Dr. Kulturel also has a courtesy appointment at Penn State Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. She received her Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Auburn University. Dr. Kulturel’s research focuses on modeling and optimizing complex systems using hybrid approaches combining heuristic methods and exact techniques from probability and operations research. The primary application areas of her research include designing and redesigning facilities to provide significant economic benefits for the US industries. Dr. Kulturel is also interested in pedagogical research regarding entrepreneurship/STEM fields, such as professional skill development, innovative thinking skills, and gender differences in learning styles. She served as the President INFORMS-Women in OR/MS (WORMS), the Chair of INFORMS- Facility Logistics Special Interest Group, and the Chair of the ASEE Middle Atlantic Section. She is currently an academic member of the College Industry Council on Material Handling Education (CICMHE). She is an Associate Editor of the Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence (Elsevier). She has been a principal investigator in several sponsored projects from National Science Foundation (NSF) and VentureWell.

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Abdullah Konak is a distinguished professor of Information Sciences and Technology at the Pennsylvania State University, Berks. Dr. Konak received his degrees in Industrial Engineering, B.S. from Yildiz Technical University, Turkey, M.S. from Bradley University, and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Konak’s current research interest is in the application of Operations Research techniques to complex problems, including such topics as network design, network reliability, facilities design, and data mining. Dr. Konak has published papers in journals such as IIE Transactions, Operations Research Letters, Informs Journal on Computing, IEEE Transactions on Reliability, International Journal of Production Research, and Production Economics. He has been a principal investigator in sponsored projects from the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Labor, and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance.

Dr. Konak currently teaches courses on Database Management Systems, Cybersecurity, Analytics, and Technology-based Entrepreneurship. He is a member of ISE, ASEE, and INFORMS.

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Dr. David R. Schneider, Cornell University Systems Engineering
David Schneider has taught at both Columbia and Cornell University where he is now the Director of M.Eng. Studies for Systems Engineering. He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in chemical engineering in 1999, attended Columbia University Film M.F.A. Program in 2001, and earned his master’s and Ph.D. from Cornell University in mechanical engineering in 2007.
Focusing largely on industry collaborations, David has advised over 1200 students on projects with companies and government agencies including Intel, Lockheed Martin, ARM, Carrier, US Green Building Council, Applied Materials, MOOG, SRC, Altera, Boeing, Smithsonian, Hasbro, Autodesk, MathWorks, L-3, MITRE, JPL, Air Force Research Labs, Marine Corps, NSF, NASA Ames, Goddard, & Kennedy, and more. David also founded the Obama White House recognized Cornell Cup USA embedded systems competition with Intel, the NASA Robotics Alliance Cadets program, and the Computational Thinking Institute.
David also created the first experience recognized by INCOSE as knowledge exam equivalent and runs the systems engineering courses for Lockheed Martin’s largest Engineering Leadership Development Program. David also led the broader impacts video game creation for the NSF Expeditions in Computing Grant on Computational Sustainability, is the head faculty advisor for Cornell University Sustainable Design (CUSD), and was a screenwriter for Walt Disney Attractions Television Production.

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Khanjan Mehta is the inaugural Vice Provost for Creative Inquiry and Director of the Mountaintop Initiative at Lehigh University. Mehta champions the creation of integrated learning, research, and entrepreneurial engagement ecosystems where students, faculty, and external partners come together to increase their capacities for independent inquiry, take intellectual risks and learn from failure, recognize problems and opportunities and effect constructive and sustainable change. Mehta is the prime instigator for four signature academic programs – the Mountaintop Summer Experience, the Global Social Impact Fellowship, the Lehigh Valley Social Impact Fellowship, and the Campus Sustainable Impact Fellowship that engage faculty and students in ambitious, interdisciplinary, multi-year, impact-focused ventures.

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