visit author page

Dr. Otilia Popescu received the Engineering Diploma and M.S. degree from the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest, Romania, and the PhD degree from Rutgers University, all in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Her research interests are in the general areas of communication systems, control theory, and signal processing. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Technology, Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. In the past she has worked for the University of Texas at Dallas, University of Texas at San Antonio, Rutgers University, and Politehnica University of Bucharest. She is a senior member of the IEEE, is a frequent reviewer for IEEE journals, and has served in the technical program committee for the IEEE ICC, VTC, GLOBECOM, and CAMAD conferences.

visit author page

visit author page

Dr. Laura C. Chezan is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Disorders and Special Education at Old Dominion University. She has over 12 years of experience working with children, young adults, and adults with intellectual disabilities, autism, and dual diagnosis in classroom, postsecondary, and vocational settings. Her research interests include functional communication, learning, and positive behavior support. Laura has presented at both state and national conferences, published articles and commentaries in professional journals, and served as a reviewer for several journals. She has recently received several extramural and intramural grants. Dr. Chezan is currently a member of the Association for Behavior Analysis International, National Association on Dual Diagnosis, Council of Exceptional Children, and Golden Key International Honor Society.

visit author page

visit author page

Dr. Jovanovic is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Technology, Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology at Old Dominion University. Prior to joining ODU's Engineering Technology Department, Dr. Jovanovic taught at Trine University, Angola, Indiana in the Design Engineering Technology Department, and as a Lead Faculty of International Studies program for the Master of Leadership degree in the School of Professional Studies. Before Trine, she worked as a Graduate Research Assistant at Purdue University in the Mechanical Engineering Technology and Computer Graphics Technology departments. She also served as an instructor in the STEM Academic Boot Camp Diversity Program.She is teaching classes in the area of mechatronics and computer aided engineering. Her research Interests are: mechatronics, robotics, digital manufacturing, product lifecycle management, manufacturing systems, and engineering education.

visit author page

visit author page

Dr. Ayala received his BS in Mechanical Engineering with honors (Cum Laude) from Universidad de Oriente (Venezuela) in 1995, MS in Mechanical Engineering in 2001 and PhD in Mechanical Engineering in 2005, both from University of Delaware (USA). Dr. Ayala is currently serving as Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Technology Department, Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA.

Prior to joining ODU in 2013, Dr. Ayala spent three years as a Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Delaware where he expanded his knowledge on simulation of multiphase flows while acquiring skills in high performance parallel computing and scientific computation. Before that, Dr. Ayala hold a faculty position at Universidad de Oriente at Mechanical Engineering Department where he taught and developed graduate and undergraduate courses for a number of subjects such as Fluid Mechanics, Heat Transfer, Thermodynamics, Multiphase Flows, Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulic Machinery, as well as Mechanical Engineering Laboratory courses.

In addition, Dr. Ayala has had the opportunity to work for a number of engineering consulting companies, which have given him an important perspective and exposure to industry. He has been directly involved in at least 20 different engineering projects related to a wide range of industries from petroleum and natural gas industry to brewing and newspaper industries. Dr. Ayala has provided service to professional organizations such as ASME. Since 2008 he has been a member of the Committee of Spanish Translation of ASME Codes and the ASME Subcommittee on Piping and Pipelines in Spanish. Under both memberships the following Codes have been translated: ASME B31.3, ASME B31.8S, ASME B31Q and ASME BPV Sections I.

While maintaining his industrial work active, his research activities have also been very active; Dr. Ayala has published 23 journal papers and 20 peer-reviewed conferences papers. His work has been presented in several international forums in Austria, USA, Venezuela, Japan, France, Mexico, and Argentina. Dr. Ayala has an average citation per year of all his published work of 23.78.

visit author page