Fedorov's background is in thermal/fluid sciences, chemical reaction engineering as well as in applied mathematics. His laboratory works at the intersection between mechanical and chemical engineering and solid state physics and analytical chemistry with the focus on portable/ distributed power generation with synergetic CO₂ capture; thermal management of high power dissipation devices and electronics cooling; special surfaces and nanostructured interfaces for catalysis, heat and moisture management; and development of novel bioanalytical instrumentation and chemical sensors. Fedorov joined Georgia Tech in 2000 as an assistant professor after finishing his postdoctoral work at Purdue University.

Valerie Thomas is the Anderson-Interface Chair of Natural Systems and Professor in the H. Milton School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, with a joint appointment in the School of Public Policy. 

Dr. Thomas's research interests are energy and materials efficiency, sustainability, industrial ecology, technology assessment, international security, and science and technology policy. Current research projects include low carbon transportation fuels, carbon capture, building construction, and electricity system development. Dr. Thomas is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and of the American Physical Society. She has been an American Physical Society Congressional Science Fellow, a Member of the U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board, and a Member of the USDA/DOE Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee. 

She has worked at Princeton University in the Princeton Environmental Institute and in the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, and at Carnegie Mellon University in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy.

Dr. Thomas received a B. A. in physics from Swarthmore College and a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Cornell University.

Sheng Dai, Ph.D., P.E., earned his degrees from Tongji University and Georgia Tech. He worked as an ORISE postdoc at the National Energy Technology Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, and returned to Georgia Tech as a faculty member in 2015. He is currently an associate professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Ocean Science and Engineering. and holds a courtesy appointment at the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech.

Dr. Dai's group addresses emerging energy and environment challenges through studying subsurface geomechanics, geomaterials characterization, energy geotechnics, bio-inspired geotechnics, flow in porous media, and granular dynamics. His research has been funded by federal funding agencies (DOE, NSF, NASA, DOT), national labs (INL, NETL), and industry (AECOM, GTI, Leidos).  Dr. Dai has been recognized for his research and teaching, including being a recipient of the NSF CAREER award, the ORISE Fellowship, the Bill Schutz Junior Faculty Teaching Award, and the Class of 1969 Teaching Fellows at Georgia Tech.

He is an associated editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth and Advances in Geo-Energy Research, an editorial advisor of Geomechanics for Energy and Environment, and serves on the Pressure Core Advisory Board for U.S. Geological Survey, the GOM2 Marine Test Technical Advisory Committee for UT/DOE, the National Gas Hydrate Program for NETL, and the Task Force Leader of TC308 Energy Geotechnics of ISSMGE. 

Over past three decades, Suresh has led a remarkably rich professional journey to unleash human potential through innovation, entrepreneurship, mentoring and leadership. Today, he applies his deep global business expertise to foster 21st century ecosystems to “industrialize innovation” for economic growth. Inspired by his hands-on experiences he authored “The 3rd American Dream” (2014); an insightful business book illustrating building blocks for growth that enable transformation at individual, societal and national level. A former GE-executive, he is a clear and pragmatic thought-leader. Starting his early career as a Naval Aviation Officer, his work experience includes industrial manufacturing, R&D and business operations in UK, USA, India and other countries. He has worked at British Aerospace, Rolls-Royce, MATRA, NASA, and General Electric. During 90s, he received international recognition for pioneering roles in globalization of GE while setting up global facilities in over 15 countries. Later, he co-authored his first best-seller book: ‘Global Outsourcing’ (2005) – still a reference work in many executive-MBA programs. 

Dr. Christopher “Scott” McWhorter is Lead for Federal Energy Strategy and National Laboratory Partnerships and a Senior Research Engineer within the Strategic Energy Institute (SEI) at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In this role, he leads Georgia Tech’s federal energy strategy, national laboratory engagement, and large-scale interdisciplinary research development efforts, helping position the Institute to compete for transformative federal research investments across the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Defense (DOD), National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Commerce, and other federal agencies. He works closely with faculty, industry, national laboratories, and government stakeholders to develop strategic partnerships, advance technology commercialization, and expand Georgia Tech’s research portfolio in energy, manufacturing, critical minerals, artificial intelligence, and national security. 

Dr. McWhorter brings more than twenty-five years of experience spanning national laboratories, federal government, academia, and technology startups. His technical expertise encompasses hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, advanced energy storage materials, critical minerals and supply chains, grid modernization, advanced manufacturing, sensors and spectroscopy, technology commercialization, and strategic energy policy. Throughout his career, he has led the development and management of multidisciplinary research programs valued at hundreds of millions of dollars while helping organizations secure more than $750 million in competitive federal funding. 

At Georgia Tech, Dr. McWhorter has played a leading role in developing major institutional initiatives focused on hydrogen, critical minerals, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and federal research partnerships. He serves as Co-Principal Investigator on a $20 million Department of Defense program focused on the manufacturing science of galvanic aluminum-based hydrogen generation technologies and has led numerous efforts to connect Georgia Tech researchers with federal agencies, national laboratories, industry partners, and regional innovation ecosystems. He previously served as Interim Managing Director of the Georgia Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing (Georgia AIM) initiative and Interim Executive Director of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing 4.0 Consortium, where he expanded industry engagement and strengthened partnerships across the manufacturing sector. 

Prior to joining Georgia Tech, Dr. McWhorter served in multiple executive and scientific leadership roles at the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), including Director of Strategic Programs, Division Director for Energy Science and Technology, Director of the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program, and Senior Advisory Scientist. He managed research portfolios exceeding $75 million annually and led multidisciplinary organizations of more than 65 scientists, engineers, and technical staff. During his tenure, he significantly expanded SRNL’s clean energy research portfolio, helped establish the laboratory’s Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative, and played a central role in the formation of several Manufacturing USA institutes, including the RAPID Manufacturing Institute and CESMII Smart Manufacturing Institute. 

Dr. McWhorter served as a Science and Clean Energy Technical Advisor for the Hydrogen Storage Program at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office. In that role, he provided technical leadership for a research portfolio exceeding $20 million annually, contributed to national hydrogen storage strategies and performance targets, guided funding opportunity development, and supported the advancement of next-generation hydrogen storage technologies. His work helped shape DOE research priorities that continue to influence the commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell systems today. 

Dr. McWhorter’s research contributions span hydrogen storage materials, advanced energy systems, critical minerals recovery, spectroscopy and sensing technologies, advanced materials characterization, and microfluidic systems. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, technical reports, invited chapters, and patents, including foundational contributions to hydrogen storage technologies, energy systems analysis, optical sensing platforms, and advanced materials processing. His recent work has focused on critical minerals recovery from mining and industrial waste streams, domestic supply chain resilience, and the integration of advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence technologies to strengthen U.S. energy and industrial competitiveness. 

In addition to his research and leadership activities, Dr. McWhorter is a recognized national leader in hydrogen and clean energy deployment. He serves as Chairman of the Board of the Southeast Hydrogen Energy Alliance (SHEA), where he has helped build one of the nation’s largest regional hydrogen stakeholder networks and advance strategies supporting hydrogen infrastructure, workforce development, and commercialization across the Southeastern United States. He also serves on numerous advisory boards and technical review panels for federal agencies, manufacturing institutes, universities, and industry organizations. 

Dr. McWhorter earned a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Louisiana State University and completed an ORISE Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Savannah River National Laboratory. Throughout his career, he has been recognized for excellence in research leadership, business development, technology transfer, and strategic program development, receiving multiple laboratory and national awards for advancing clean energy innovation and commercialization. His work continues to focus on accelerating the development and deployment of technologies that strengthen U.S. energy security, manufacturing competitiveness, and economic prosperity. Selected Recent Publications: 1. Tang, Y.; McWhorter, S. Kaolin Tailings Are Georgia's Hidden Gateway to Critical Minerals in AI Era. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 19, 2025. https://www.ajc.com/opinion/2025/12/kaolin-tailings-are-georgias-hidden-gateway-to-critical-minerals-in-ai-era/ (accessed 2026-06-01). 2. Tang, Y. and McWhorter, S. "How the US Can Mine Its Own Critical Minerals — without Digging New Holes." The Conversation, 30 July 2025, https://theconversation.com/how-the-us-can-mine-its-own-critical-minerals-without-digging-new-holes-252609. 3. Grady, C., McWhorter, S., Sulic, M., Sprik, S.J., Thorton, M.J., Brooks, K.P., Tamburello, D.A., Design Tool for Estimating Adsorbent Hydrogen Storage System Characteristics for Light-Duty Fuel Cell Vehicles. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 47, 29847, 2022. 4. Zidan, R., McWhorter, S., Enabling a Flexible Grid with Increased Penetration of DER: Techno-economic Analysis of Metal Hydride Thermochemical Energy Storage Integrated with Stirling Engine for Grid Energy Storage Applications. United States: N. p., 2020. Web. doi:10.2172/1632839.

Benoit Montreuil is the Coca-Cola Material Handling & Distribution Chair and Professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech. He also serves as Director of the Physical Internet Center and Executive Director of the Supply Chain & Logistics Institute. 

Dr. Montreuil is leading the International Physical Internet Initiative, engaging academic, industry and government leaders worldwide into research and innovation projects on smart, hyperconnected and sustainable logistics, supply chains, transportation, businesses and regions. 

His main research interests generically lie in developing concepts, methodologies and technologies for creating, optimizing, transforming and enabling businesses, supply chains and value creation networks to thrive in a fast evolving hyperconnected world. 

He stands at the crossroads of industrial and systems engineering; operations research; computer sciences; operations, logistics, supply chain, strategic management; and sustainability science. His research builds mostly on a synthesis of optimization modeling and mathematical programming, discrete & agent-based simulation modeling, systems science & design theory. 

Dr. Montreuil is a world-renowned scientist who has introduced in collaboration with students and colleagues an imposing set of paradigm-challenging leading edge contributions through nearly four decades of research, shared through 250 scientific publications, 250 scientific communications and numerous keynote speeches at international scientific and professional conferences. He has extensive advisory, entrepreneurial and collaborative research experience with industry and government. 

Through his career, he has received numerous awards, recently including DC Velocity’s Rainmaker of the Year and The Physical Internet Pioneer Award for his outstanding and inspiring vision. 

From 2000 to 2014, Dr. Montreuil has held the Canada Research Chair in Business Engineering. He is a founding member of the CIRRELT Interuniversity Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation. He is also past president of the College-Industry Council on Material Handling Education and its Liaison to the Board of Governors of MHI, the North American industry association of material handling, logistics and supply chain solutions and technology providers. 

Dr. Montreuil graduated in 1978 from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR). He earned a master’s and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech in 1980 and 1982 respectively. After serving on the industrial engineering faculty of UQTR and Purdue University, from 1988 to 2014, he was a Professor of operations and decisions systems in the faculty of Business Administration at Université Laval in Quebec City, Canada.

Alan Erera is a Manhattan Associates/Dabbiere Chair and the Associate Chair for Research in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech. He is also the faculty director for the M.S. in Supply Chain Engineering program, Co-Director for Global Transportation in the Supply Chain & Logistics Institute, and Co-Executive Director of the Georgia Tech Panama Logistics Innovation & Research Center.

His research focuses on transportation and logistics systems planning and control, with an emphasis on planning under uncertainty and real-time operational control.  His recent work has addressed dynamic vehicle routing systems for same-day distribution; resilient logistics network design for food supply chains; service network design, linehaul equipment management, and driver scheduling for consolidation freight carriers; robust container fleet management for global shipping companies; and robust and flexible vehicle routing system planning and control for distribution companies. He has written extensively in these subject areas, and has delivered over 100 technical presentations and invited lectures. His research program has been supported by federal agencies (DHS, USDOT, NSF) and major U.S. freight carriers and manufacturing firms.

He received his B.S. Eng. from Princeton University, and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Shannon Yee began as an Assistant Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering in January 2014. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of California - Berkeley under the supervision of Prof. Arun Majumdar, Prof. Chris Dames, and Prof. Rachel Segalman. In 2010, he was named the first fellow to the U.S. Dept. of Energy 's Advanced Research Project Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) assisting to form the agency in its inaugural year. In 2008 he was awarded the prestigious Hertz Fellowship to support his graduate studies and research in energy. Yee received his Master 's degree in Nuclear Engineering in 2008 from The Ohio State University where he was a U.S. Dept. of Energy Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative Fellow. He received his Bachelor 's degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2007, also from The Ohio State University.

Chelsea C. White III is the Schneider National Chair in Transportation and Logistics and Professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech​. 

His most recent research interests include analyzing the role of real-time information and enabling information technology for improved logistics and, more generally, supply chain productivity and risk mitigation, with special focus on the U.S. trucking industry. 

His involvement with the IEEE includes serving as President of the Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC) Society (1992 - 93). He received the Norbert Wiener Award in 1999 and the Joseph G. Wohl Outstanding Career Award in 2005, both from the IEEE SMC Society, and an IEEE Third Millennium Medal. The Norbert Wiener Award is the SMC’s highest award recognizing lifetime contributions in research. He is the recipient of the 2008 IEEE ITSS ITS Outstanding Research Award for “significant contributions in research and development in global transportation and logistic systems.” He is a Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow of INFORMS, a former member of the Executive Board of CIEADH (Council of Industrial Engineering Academic Department Heads), and the founding chair of the IEEE TAB Committee on ITS (now an IEEE Society). He is a former member of the World Economic Forum trade facilitation council. He is currently the Systems Strategies theme leader for the DHS National Center for Food Protection and Defense and the Industry Studies Association liaison to INFORMS. 

Dr. White is the former editor of the IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Parts A and C, and was the founding editor of the IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). He has served as the ITS Series book editor for Artech House Publishing Company. He is co-author (with A.P. Sage) of the second edition of Optimum Systems Control (Prentice-Hall, 1977), co-editor (with D.E. Brown) of Operations Research and Artificial Intelligence: Integration of Problem Solving Strategies (Kluwer, 1990), and co-editor (with D.L. Belman) of Trucking in the Information Age (Ashgate, 2005). He has published primarily in the areas of the control of finite stochastic systems and knowledge-based decision support systems. 

He has been a keynote speaker at a variety of international conferences and meetings. He has made presentations at the Council on Competitiveness and the Brookings Institution on the impact of information technology for international freight distribution, security, and productivity. He has represented ITS America by providing testimony during a roundtable discussion entitled Reauthorization of the Federal Surface Transportation Research Program, held by the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. He has testified before the California Senate Committee on Transportation & Housing Public Hearing on ITS and before the Joint Georgia State Senate/House Future of Manufacturing Study Committee on trends & challenges in supply chain & logistics engineering. 

He has served on the faculties of the University of Virginia (1976 - 1990) and UM (1990 - 2001). He has served as school chair of the Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (2005-10), where he is the director of the Trucking Industry Program (TIP) and the former executive director of The Logistics Institute. He serves on the boards of directors for Con-way, Inc. (NYSE: CNW), The Logistics Institute-Asia Pacific, the Industry Studies Association, and the Bobby Dodd Institute, and is a former member of the board of ITS America (a Utilized Federal Advisory Committee) and the ITS World Congress. 

Chelsea C. White III received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan (UM) in 1974 in Computer, Information, and Control Engineering.