Bilal M. Ayyub is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 engineer

Engineering

Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

. He is professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 of civil

Civil engineering

Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...

 and environmental engineering

Environmental engineering

Environmental engineering is the application of science and engineering principles to improve the natural environment , to provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation and for other organisms, and to remediate polluted sites...

 at the University of Maryland, College Park

University of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...

, and the director of the Center for Technology and Systems Management

Center for Technology and Systems Management

The Center for Technology and Systems Management is a research center at the A. James Clark School of Engineering of the University of Maryland, College Park, United States. Established in 1996, the center includes both University of Maryland faculty and staff and external associates...

 (CTSM) at the A. James Clark School of Engineering

A. James Clark School of Engineering

The A. James Clark School of Engineering is the engineering college of the University of Maryland, College Park. The Clark School of Engineering is nationally ranked and consistently considered to be among the Top 20 engineering programs in the United States. The school consists of fourteen...

. He also co-directs with Robert Finkelstein the CTSM's Intelligent Systems Laboratory. Ayyub has been at the University of Maryland since 1983. He is a leading authority in the areas of risk analysis

Risk analysis (engineering)

Risk analysis is the science of risks and their probability and evaluation.Probabilistic risk assessment is one analysis strategy usually employed in science and engineering.-Risk analysis and the risk workshop:...

, uncertainty

Uncertainty

Uncertainty is a term used in subtly different ways in a number of fields, including physics, philosophy, statistics, economics, finance, insurance, psychology, sociology, engineering, and information science...

 modeling, decision analysis

Decision analysis

Decision analysis is the discipline comprising the philosophy, theory, methodology, and professional practice necessary to address important decisions in a formal manner...

, and systems engineering

Systems engineering

Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed over the life cycle of the project. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different teams, and automatic control of machinery become more...

. Ayyub is also president of BMA Engineering, Inc., a Bethesda, Maryland

Bethesda, Maryland

Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...

-based engineering consulting firm that works with infrastructure

Infrastructure

Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...

 and defense systems

Defense contractor

A defense contractor is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a military department of a government. Products typically include military aircraft, ships, vehicles, weaponry, and electronic systems...

.

Early life and education

Ayyub received his Bachelor of Science

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 degree

Academic degree

An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...

 in civil engineering in 1980 from Kuwait University

Kuwait University

Kuwait University was established in October 1966, five years after Kuwait's independence from British Colonization. KU started with only two faculties, namely the Faculty of Science, Arts and Education; and a Women's College. The university had 418 students enrolled and 31 faculty members. By ,...

, and moved to the United States of America in 1981. He received his Master of Science

Master of Science

A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...

 (1981) and Ph.D.

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 (1983) in civil engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology

Georgia Institute of Technology

The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...

 in Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

.

Career

Ayyub completed several research projects funded by the National Science Foundation

National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...

, U.S. Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

, U.S. Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

, Army Corps of Engineers

United States Army Corps of Engineers

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...

, Department of Homeland Security, the Maryland State Highway Administration, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....

, and several engineering companies.

Ayyub is a fellow

Fellow

A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...

 of the American Society of Civil Engineers

American Society of Civil Engineers

The American Society of Civil Engineers is a professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. It is the oldest national engineering society in the United States. ASCE's vision is to have engineers positioned as global leaders who strive toward...

 (ASCE), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....

 (ASME) and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers

Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers

The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers is a professional society that provides a forum for the advancement of the engineering profession as applied to the marine field...

 (SNAME), and has served in various capacities at the American Society of Naval Engineers

American Society of Naval Engineers

The American Society of Naval Engineers is a professional association of American naval engineers. Naval Engineering includes all arts and sciences as applied in the research, development, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and logistic support of surface and subsurface ships and...

 (ASNE), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a non-profit professional association headquartered in New York City that is dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence...

 (IEEE), and the North American Fuzzy Information Processing Society (NAFIPS) as well.

Ayyub is a multiple recipient of the ASNE Jimmie Hamilton Award for the best papers in the Naval Engineers Journal in 1985, 1992, 2000 and 2003. Also, he received the ASCE Outstanding Research Oriented Paper in the Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management for 1987, the ASCE Edmund Friedman Award in 1989, the ASCE Walter Huber Research Prize in 1997, and the K. S. Fu Award of NAFIPS in 1995. He received the Department of the Army Public Service Award in 2007 for leading the development of the risk model for the hurricane protection system of New Orleans. Dr. Ayyub was appointed to many national committees and investigation boards including most recently on the working group on higher education of the transition team of Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, 2006–07, the working group on homeland security of the transition team of Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, 2006–07, and the Committee for Assessment of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Security Program, Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment, National Research Council

United States National Research Council

The National Research Council of the USA is the working arm of the United States National Academies, carrying out most of the studies done in their names.The National Academies include:* National Academy of Sciences...

 of the National Academies, 2006-08. He was appointed to the Maryland Governor's Commission on Middle Eastern American Affairs, and on the Board of Advisors of the ASCE Council on Disaster Risk Management (CDRM). Presently, he chairs the CDRM Vulnerability and Risk Committee

Vulnerability and Risk Committee

The Vulnerability and Risk Committee, or VRC, is one of the four technical committees within the Council on Disaster Reduction of the American Society of Civil Engineers.- Purpose :...

. He has delivered many invited talks at leading national and international organizations including most recently a distinguished lecture to the Brazilian Research Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, Naval War College

Naval War College

The Naval War College is an education and research institution of the United States Navy that specializes in developing ideas for naval warfare and passing them along to officers of the Navy. The college is located on the grounds of Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island...

 for the Chief of Naval Operations, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Australian National Marine Safety Committee.

Ayyub is the author and co-author of more than 550 publications in journals and conference proceedings, and reports. Among the publications of Dr. Ayyub are more than 20 books including the following selected textbooks used by many universities worldwide:

Ayyub, B. M., and Klir, G. J., Uncertainty Modeling and Analysis for Engineers and Scientists, Chapman & Hall/CRC, Press Boca Raton, FL, 2006.

Ayyub, B. M., Risk Analysis in Engineering and Economics, Chapman and Hall/CRC Press, 2003.

Ayyub, B. M., Elicitation of Expert Opinions for Uncertainty and Risks, CRC Press, 2002.

Ayyub, B.M., and McCuen, R., Probability, Statistics and Reliability for Engineers and Scientists, Second Edition, Chapman and Hall/CRC Press, 2003.

Ayyub, B.M., and McCuen, R., Numerical Methods for Engineers, Prentice Hall, New York, 1996.