Biography
Abdullah Konak is a distinguished professor of Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State Berks. Dr. Konak also teaches graduate courses in the Master of Science in Cybersecurity Analytics and Operations program for the University’s College of Information Sciences and Technology. Dr. Konak earned degrees in industrial engineering, including a B.S. from Yildiz Technical University, Turkey; an M.S. from Bradley University; and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to his current position, he taught at Auburn University. Dr. Konak held visiting positions at Lehigh University and Cornell University, as well as at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he taught engineering innovation for over a decade.
Dr. Konak’s primary research interest is in the modeling, analysis, and optimization of complex systems using computational intelligence combined with techniques from probability, statistics, and operations research. His research also involves active learning strategies, entrepreneurship education, and the innovation mindset. He has published numerous academic papers in leading journals on a broad range of topics, including sustainability and resilience, network design, system design, cybersecurity, facilities design, green logistics, production management, and data sciences. He has been a principal investigator in sponsored projects from the National Science Foundation, Belmont Forum, the National Security Agency, the U.S. Department of Labor, and Venture Well.
Dr. Konak currently teaches courses on database management systems, data mining, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, agent-based modelling, and entrepreneurship. He is a member of INFORMS and ASEE.
Research Interests
Dr. Konak's current research projects include:
- Collaborative Research: Fostering Inclusive Pathways in Innovation Ecosystems, National Science Foundation, $399,999, co-PI, 2024-2027.
- AccelNet-Implementation: US-Africa Sustainable Food Systems through Water-Energy-Food Nexus Networking (SustainFood), National Science Foundation, $2,000,000, Co-Investigator, 2022-2027.
- Cultivating Innovative Thinking Skills in STEM Education (DUE-2120936), National Science Foundation, $286,185, co-PI, 2021-2024.
- Belmont Forum Collaborative Research: Management of Disaster Risk and Societal Resilience (MADIS), (ICER -2039506), National Science Foundation, $300,000, co-PI in the Penn State Portion of the Grant (Cranfield University and University of São Paulo are other members of $1,100,000 consortium grant), 2021-2024.
- Food Bank Operations Optimization: Data-driven Societal Impact Approach (FOODSIA), the Inter-Institutional Partnerships for Diversifying Research (IPDR) Program, the Computational & Data Science Track (ADOPTS), $19,800, 2024-2026.
Publications
Liu, H., Kulturel-Konak, S., Konak, A. (2021). “A Measurement Model of Entrepreneurship Education Effectiveness Based on Methodological Triangulation,” Studies in Educational Evaluation, 70, 100987, http://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2021.100987
Xiao, Y., Zuo, X., Huang, J., Konak, A., & Xu, Y. (2020), “The continuous Pollution Routing Problem,” Applied Mathematics and Computation, 387, http://doi.org/10.1016/j.amc.2020.125072.
Konak, A., Kulturel-Konak, S., Nasereddin, M., Bartolacci, MR. (2017). “Impact of Collaborative Work on Technology Acceptance: A Case Study from Virtual Computing,” Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 16, 15-29.
Konak, A. and Bartolacci, MR. (2016). “Using a Virtual Computing Laboratory to Foster Collaborative Learning for Information Security and Information Technology Education,” Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice, Vol. 2016: No. 1, Article 2, 1-25.
Xioa, Y. and Konak, A. (2016). “The heterogeneous green vehicle routing and scheduling problem with time-varying traffic congestion,” Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 88, 146–166.
Education
- Ph.D., Industrial Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. (2001)
- M.S., Industrial Engineering, Bradley University, Peoria, Il. (1996)
- B.S., Industrial Engineering, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey (1992)