Making Pollution Prevention Pay

Dr. Tarek-Abdel-Salam
Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies
East Carolina University

Dr. Abdel-Salam is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the Associate Dean for  Research at the ECU’s College of Engineering and Technology. He is also serving as the Director of the ECU Center for Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering. He was a senior environmental engineer with the Energy Conservation and Environment Project at the Development Research and Technological Planning Center at Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt. In addition, Dr. Abdel Salam served as a project engineer in the Industrial Assessment Center at Old Dominion University, a project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. His research is in the thermal-fluids area. His current research includes ocean wave energy, computational fluid dynamics, solar assisted devices, energy efficiency, fluid mechanics, combustion and environmental management.

Dr. Kanchin Das
Professor
ECU, Technology Systems

Dr. Das is an Associate Professor in the Department of Technology Systems, Collage of Engineering and Technology, East Carolina University. He teaches Lean Enterprise; Lean Manufacturing, Operations Management, Plant Layout and Materials Handling and Smart Manufacturing. Dr. Kanchan Das published numerous research articles in the national and international peer reviewed journals. His research areas include Integration of Lean and Green approaches in Supply Chain Management; Application of Lean Systems in the manufacturing and services industries for improving their performances; Integrating Sustainability considerations in the design and planning of  manufacturing based supply chain network; Incorporating Lean and Green factors for improving sustainability performances of businesses; Designing resilient and sustainable supply chain networks; Incorporating Lean and green factors for improving resiliency and sustainability performance of supply chains.  He is a Member of Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers and Decision Sciences Institute.

Dr. Nehad Elsawaf
Associate Professor – ECU, Economics

Dr. Elsawaf is a Teaching Associate Professor in the Economics Department at East Carolina University. Dr. Elsawaf has joined the Department of Economics in 2010 after completing her Ph.D. in International Finance from Old Dominion University, VA. She also has a masters and bachelors’ degree in Economics from the American university in Cairo. Dr. Elsawaf’s primary research interests are in the areas of energy management and environmental cost effectiveness of energy saving technologies, in addition to research on the operations of financial markets. Other areas of interest include research on International Business Operations, especially organizational strategy, cross border expansion, market entry decisions as well as currency risk management activities of multinational enterprises. Dr. Elsawaf has several publications in reputable peer reviewed journals, such as the journal of Energy and The International Journal of Energy and the Environment.
Since 2016 to date, Dr. Elsawaf also served as a CO PI on three EPA funded projects.

Haley Smith
Environmental Engineering – ECU

Ms. Smith is a first generation Senior Environmental Engineering student at ECU. She is a member of many clubs at ECU such as the Society of Woman Engineers, ECO Pirates which is a community service-based club that focuses on improving the health of Greenville’s green areas and improving public environmental education, and Pirates on Water which highlights water resources and environmental issues in Eastern NC. She has a passion for helping reduce negative environmental impacts through engineering practices and wants to focus her career on green studies. Haley’s areas of interest are water pollution control and prevention, green building, nuclear energy, and biogas. This project will allow her to learn about project management, data interpretation, and cost-benefit analysis through hands on experience with different NC industries.

Kenneth Weddle
Mechanical Engineering

Mr. Weddle is from Raleigh, N.C. He is a second-year graduate student at ECU with a major in Mechanical Engineering. Kenneth is interested in renewable energy sources and supercritical fluids, as well as green industrial processes. When he graduates, he would like to work as a design/project engineer or engineering work in power generation. Recently, Kenneth received a research award from the university to present his thesis research on Solar-Assisted Supercritical CO2 Brayton Cycles at ASTFE’s 7^th Annual Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Dr. BJ Kim
Associate Professor – ECU, Engineering

Dr. Kim  has taught Production/Manufacturing Systems Management, Facility Layout and Design, Logistics, Statistical Quality Control, Human Factors and Ergonomics, and System Simulation. His research interests are in the areas of human performance analysis, process capability improvement, health care system management, and data science.

Dr. Kim has published numerous research articles in peer reviewed journals, such as Ergonomics, Applied Ergonomics, Fuzzy Sets and Systems, International Journal of Industrial Engineering-Theory, Application and Practice, International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, Internal Journal of Uncertainty, Fuzziness and Knowledge-based Systems, Reliability Engineering and System Safety, International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance. He also has made a number of presentations at international conferences, such as Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineering Annual Conference, Annual Conference of Human Factors, and Annual Conference of Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics

Dr. Jinkun Lee
Assistant Professor – ECU, Engineering

Dr. Lee has joined the Department of Engineering in 2018.  He received his B.S. and M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Seoul National University in 1997 and 1999 and his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering/Operations Research from Penn State in 2014. His work experience includes two years in the automobile industry and five years in the aerospace research center in South Korea. He teaches production system analysis and lean six-sigma courses. He has served as PI or Co-PI with multiple industry lead projects before joining ECU in 2018.

Dr. Lee’s current work focuses on (i) data-driven process automation in the areas of manufacturing and healthcare device and (ii) traffic road network simulation in consideration of anticipated increase of autonomous vehicles.

Mr. David Mayo
Director of the Crisp Small Business Resource Center
The Miller School of Entrepreneurship

Mr. Mayo is a faculty member teaching in the field of entrepreneurship and the Director of the Crisp Small Business Resource Center in the Miller School of Entrepreneurship at East Carolina University.  He is a graduate of NC State University with a major in Marketing as well as a graduate of East Carolina University with a MBA.

During his career David has worked with hundreds of community small businesses and entrepreneurs, assisting with capital raise, marketing, innovation, and strategic planning.  He has also started companies in consulting, manufacturing, and web services. He directs the Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge, NC’s largest pitch competition with 400 annual participants and more than $150,000 in prizes. David serves on three not-for-profit small business support organization boards and multiple boards of director and advisory board positions for NC-based startups.

David aspires to enable businesses to grow and thrive, especially in rural communities.

Cara Gordon

Cara earned her BS (2010) in Interior Design from East Carolina University. Post-graduation, she worked as a GSA designer for a small office furniture firm. Soon after, Cara returned to hospitality, working as a banquet chef for Westin Huntsville, catering supervisor for P.F. Chang’s, a private chef, and Events Director for a celebrity-owned restaurant until the COVID-19 pandemic. Motivated by global changes, she returned to ECU to pursue her MS in Sustainable Tourism and Hospitality Management. Her sustainability passions include waste management, renewable energy, plastics in the oceans, and social justice through policy reform. Cara hopes to one day live in New Zealand and experience Kiwi culture. Her interests include cooking and eating all ethnic food, mountain and trail hiking, book collecting and reading, and cultural tourism.

Michael  Trapani
MS Mechanical Engineering

Mr. Trapani received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from ECU and is returning to ECU in pursuit of a master’s in mechanical engineering. He began his career in defense then worked as an independent contractor for several years in the medical device and textiles fields.  He is now working in a consultatory capacity for the project team using his knowledge of machinery and sources of energy consumption. He will also provide Subject Matter Expert (SME) advice as needed.

Shane Bright
MBA

Mr. Bright is a MBA, Finance student, at East Carolina University. He is a member of Gamma Iota Sigma, which is an organization that promotes, encourages, and sustains student interest in insurance, risk management, and actuarial science as a profession. His future goals and interest consist of gaining an underwriting position in the insurance industry and/or working in wealth management and retirement planning. He also has a heavy interest in markets and analyzing stock charts. Being a part of this project will help him gather experience by assisting in cost-benefit analysis for various companies in Eastern North Carolina.

Alex Ferro
Mechanical Engineering – East Carolina University
Energy efficiency Coordinator

Alex Ferro is originally from Brownsville, Texas. He moved to Mount Olive, North Carolina at the age of six. He completed his Associates Degree in Arts and Engineering at Wayne Community College. Alex is a recipient of the PIRATES scholarship from Wayne Community College that is eligible for any transfer working towards a Bachelor’s in engineering. He is a first-generation college student currently attending ECU with a concentration in electrical engineering. His hobbies include rock climbing, volleyball, and watching his favorite cinema classics. His main focus is in sustainable and green practices using the experience he gains through this project. This project gives the valuable experience and tools needed to help industries work towards a more energy efficient state.  

Grace Jacobson
Environmental and Systems Engineering

Grace is originally from Cary, NC. She completed an Associate Degree in Engineering at Wake Technical Community College. She recently transferred to ECU to complete her Bachelors Degree in Engineering with a dual concentration in Environmental and Industrial and Systems Engineering. Growing up in the outdoors, camping, hiking, and otherwise enjoying nature, she developed a strong desire to preserve and protect the natural world. Grace has an interest in creating more sustainable industrial practices by finding ways to reduce emissions and use greener methods when producing on a large scale. Her main focus is directed towards water and air pollution and advocating towards using renewable energy. This project allows her to have first hand experience helping industries in NC practice greener production methods.

Jacob Zino
Industrial Engineering Technology

Jacob is originally from Apex, NC. He is in his second year at ECU as an Industrial Engineering Technology student. He has always loved being outdoors and is very interested in helping the environment, especially with point source reduction. He is excited to help find ways to increase sustainability in manufacturing plants starting with his position here as a

Nicholas Iuso
Cost-benefit analysis research assistant

Nicholas Iuso is a senior at ECU in the College of Business. He serves as the cost-benefit analysis research assistant for CSE3. With a concentration in Finance, Nicholas is set to graduate this December. Upon completing his degree, he aspires to work as a Financial Analyst in the Raleigh/Durham area.

Jordan Pruitt
Research Assistant

Jordan is originally from Mebane, NC. She is in her second year at ECU as a Construction Management major. Growing up and spending time at lakes, beaches, and mountains she grew to love being outdoors. So, she wants to help the preserve the environment throughout her career by using greener methods and improving the overall production of future construction sites. She is excited to learn how to increase sustainability here at CSE3 as a research assistant.

Ryan Balungeli

Ryan Balungeli is an international student originally from Cameroon. After completing his high school education, he moved on to further his education in the US. He is currently pursuing his bachelor’s degree in computer science and is to graduate in 2025. He is passionate about technology, Artificial Intelligence in particular. In his free time, Ryan enjoys playing either soccer or tennis, working on graphic design projects, and watching his favorite shows. Ryan joined CSE3 in the fall of 2022, and while there he continues to hone his skills in various sectors of his niche which will positively impact his future goals on his career journey.