Director of the Center for Technology and Systems Management at the University of Maryland
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering since 1983
Professor of Reliability Engineering since 1985
Professor of Applied Mathematics and Scientific Computation since 2009
Consulting Professor at the U. S. Navy from 1993 to 2001
President of BMA Engineering, Inc. since 1987
Board member of several research and development companies and non-profit organizations including start-up companies
Completed his PhD degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta in 1983, MSCE degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1981, and BSCE from the University of Kuwait in 1980.
Main research interests are risk, uncertainty and decision analysis, and systems engineering applied to civil, infrastructure, energy, defense and maritime fields. They include reliability-based design and risk-informed planning and decision making covering many aspects of project lifecycles and portfolios, such as life expectancy assessment of structural systems, risk-informed inspection, protection of critical infrastructure, bidding strategies, project execution risk, project life management, operational risk, risk management including risk transfer and risk finance, and liability and exposure analysis.
Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME), and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Completed many research and development projects for governmental and private entities.
Recipient of several awards from ASCE, ASNE, ASME, NAFIPS, the Department of the Army, and the Governor of the State of Maryland.
Author and co-author of more than 600 publications (including 8 textbooks and 14 edited books) in journals, conference proceedings, and reports. His textbooks include the following: Uncertainty Modeling and Analysis for Engineers and Scientists (Chapman & Hall/CRC 2006 with G. Klir), Risk Analysis in Engineering and Economics (Chapman & Hall/CRC 2003), Elicitation of Expert Opinions for Uncertainty and Risks (CRC Press 2002), Probability, Statistics and Reliability for Engineers and Scientists, Third Edition (Chapman & Hall/CRC 2011 with R. H. McCuen), and Numerical Methods for Engineers (Prentice Hall 1996 with R. H. McCuen).