Keynote Speakers (Virtual)
Each speaker needs to register and pay the discounted speaker registration fee for the 9th North American IEOM Washington D.C. Conference. Please pay your registration fee ONLINE: https://www.xcdsystem.com/IEOM/attendee/index.cfm?ID=rzd9S0y
Wednesday, May 13, 2026 – 2:00 – 2:30 pm (Virtual via Zoom)
Session Chair: Dr. Nazrul Islam, IEOM Canada
Guiping Hu, PhD
Professor and Department Chair
Systems Engineering & Operations Research
College of Engineering and Computing
George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia, United States
Short biography:
Dr. Guiping Hu is a Professor and Department Chair of Systems Engineering and Operations Research at George Mason University. During 2023 – 2025, she served as the School Head of Industrial Engineering and Management at Oklahoma State University. During 2022-2023, she served as the Associate Chair of the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering at Iowa State University where she was a faculty from 2009-2023. Dr. Hu’s research has been supported by NSF, USDA, DOE, and DOD with over $12M funding. She has published over 100 journal articles and 50 conference proceedings. She is an Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) Fellow, ELATES fellow, and an NSF IAspire Leadership Academy Fellow.
Keynote Title: System thinking to address trans-disciplinary societal challenges
Abstract: The landscape in research for industry and service sectors continues to evolve rapidly, driven by emerging opportunities and challenges with significant societal implications. As a pivotal approach to embracing these challenges and opportunities, trans-disciplinary research plays an increasingly important role, especially as systems become borderless and dynamic. During this process, it is critical to embrace and adopt system thinking to address trans-disciplinary service challenges. Dr. Hu will share an overview of industrial and service systems along with the digitalization in the era of artificial intelligence and digital twin adoption. Application domains will include supply chain design, manufacturing production, renewable energy production, sustainable agriculture, and healthcare.
Thursday, May 14, 2026 – 2:00 – 2:30 pm (Virtual via Zoom)
Session Chair: Dr. Nazrul Islam, IEOM Canada
Lizhi Wang, PhD
Professor of Bioengineering
Department of Systems Engineering & Operations Research
College of Engineering and Computing
George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia, USA
Short biography:
Bio: Lizhi Wang is a professor in the Department of Bioengineering and the Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research at George Mason University. Between 2007 and 2023, he worked at Iowa State University in the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering as an assistant, associate, and then full professor. Between 2023 and summer of 2025, he worked at Oklahoma State University as the inaugural holder of the Ken and Lynn Case Endowed Chair position in the School of Industrial Engineering and Management. Dr. Wang is a co-founder of Crop Convergence, a startup company that offers digital twin as a decision support tool in the controlled environment agriculture industry.
Keynote Title: A systems engineering approach to digital twin models for biological systems
Keynote abstract:
Abstract: Most commonly used models for biological systems are either process-based or data-driven. Process-based models simulate major physiological processes throughout the life cycle, which are explainable and insightful but require experimental measurements for parameterization. On the other hand, data-driven models use machine learning techniques to approximate the complex input-output relationship, which can often produce accurate predictions given adequate training data, but it is hard to explain how the predictions are reached. As an attempt to overcome the challenges of these two types of models and combine their strengths, we have developed a variety of digital twin models using systems engineering principles. Such a model can be considered as a special neural network with a delicately designed architecture, where every neuron represents part of a physiological process and every parameter has a biological meaning. Examples of digital twin models for plants, animals, and/or human body will be introduced to demonstrate the potential of these models.
Friday, May 15, 2026 – 2:00 – 2:30 pm (Virtual via Zoom)
Session Chair: Dr. Nazrul Islam, IEOM Canada
Michael Parent
Principal – Michael Parent Consulting Services
Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt
ASQ Certified Manager of Quality/Operational Excellence
Canton, Michigan, USA
Michael Parent is an operations consultant and Principal of Michael Parent Consulting Services. Throughout his career, Michael has partnered with organizations to enhance their operational performance in critical areas of cost, quality, capacity, and production. Michael has worked with businesses in several industries and disciplines such as Manufacturing, Insurance, Warehousing, and Human Resources.
Michael holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and an MBA from the College of William and Mary Raymond A. Mason School of Business in Williamsburg VA. Michael is a certified Lean and Six Sigma Master Black Belt and an ASQ Certified Manager of Quality/Operational Excellence. Michael was named a 40 Under 40 “Rising Star” by the American Society for Quality.
Presentation Title: Beyond Poka-Yoke: ways to design systems to handle human error
Abstract
Human error is one of the leading issues in operations. It impacts quality, efficiency, and increases operational variability. Good design anticipates human error and handles them according to the needs of the system. This presentation presents many different ways to integrate error handling that goes beyond the traditional Lean methods of “Poka-yoke”. The audience will walk away with greater knowledge and understanding of their options with regards to handling of human error.