The Baroud Research Group interests lie in the area of statistical modeling to improve disaster preparedness and recovery. More specifically, our work is focused on development of data-driven methods to (i) measure the impact of disruptive events on the infrastructure and the community, (ii) evaluate the interdependencies across infrastructure systems and communities, and (iii) predict the recovery behavior to inform resource allocation before, during, and after a disruption.
We develop and utilize analytical methods that are founded in statistical learning, network analysis, risk and decision analysis, and optimization models. Applications span over a wide range of critical infrastructures such as water, energy, and transportation systems.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Postdoc position
A postdoctoral position is available in data science and complex networks with applications to disaster resilience, infrastructure systems, social networks, and climate adaptation. More information available here.
Recent News
December 2021. Rajesh passed the preliminary exam. Congrats, Rajesh!
September 2021. Dan successfully completed his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering and accepted a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering Technology at SUNY – Alfred State College of Technology. Congrats, Dan!
August 2021. Paul successfully completed his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering and accepted a position as Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Civil Engineering at Vanderbilt University. Congrats, Paul!
November 2020. Jinzhu successfully completed his Ph.D. in Systems Engineering and accepted a position as Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Computer Science at Rensseelaer Polytechnic Institute. Congrats, Jinzhu!
October 2020. Yu along with four students won first place in the data challenge of the Smoky Mountains Computational Sciences and Engineering Conference. The paper was published in the proceedings of the conference. Congrats to Yu and the team!
May 2020. Andrea successfully completed her Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering and accepted a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering at Tennessee State University. Congrats, Andrea!
April 2020. Dan passed the qualifying exam. Congrats, Dan!
March 2020. Hiba received the NSF CAREER award to develop integrated research and education focused on dynamic networks to study uncertain interdependencies between policy, infrastructure, and communities during disasters.
March 2020. Hiba and Dan traveled to Guatemala with a group of undergraduate engineering students as part of a 100K Strong Americas project. We are working with Universidad del Valle to bring sustainable solutions for water and energy management in San Cristobal El Alto.
February 2020. Hiba delivered the “Commodore Classroom” lecture to Vanderbilt’s New Orleans alumni chapter.
December 2019. Hiba served as a plenary speaker at the Society for Risk Analysis Annual Meeting held in Arlington, VA.
December 2019. Our research on economic impacts of inland waterway ports disruption was profiled in the research section of the Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) magazine December 2019 issue.
November 2019. Hiba was invited to speak at the National Academies’ Arab-American Frontiers of Engineering symposium held in Cairo, Egypt.
November 2019. Our research on Arctic maritime navigation is highlighted in an article in the Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) magazine.
September 2019. Research grant awarded by the National Science Foundation: NNA Track 1: Collaborative Research: Maritime transportation in a changing Arctic: Navigating climate and sea ice uncertainties. Hiba is PI with co-PIs Ralf Bennartz and Alice DuVivier (NCAR).
August 2019. Yu Wang joins our group as a Ph.D. student. Welcome Yu!
July 2019. Research grant awarded by the Tennessee Department of Transportation and led by the University of Memphis: Best Strategies for Hiring, Retaining, and Utilizing Minorities and Women. Hiba is co-PI with PI Janey Camp.
July 2019. Mohamed Hassan, who is doing a high school research internship in our group, won third place in the poster competition at the research symposium of the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt. Congrats Mohamed!
June 2019. Research grant awarded by Sandia National Laboratories: Power Systems Resilience. Hiba is PI.
May 2019. Dan is selected as a Curb Public Scholar by the Vanderbilt Curb Center. He will use the art of photography to address disaster policy and community resilience. Congrats Dan!
May 2019. Research grant awarded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and led by the University of Memphis: Mississippi River Supply Chain Management. Hiba is PI with co-PIs Craig Philip and Mark Abkowitz.
April 2019. Jinzhu passes his qualifying exam. Congrats, Jinzhu!
January 2019. Hiba is selected as a Public Voices Fellow. She will work with the Division of Communications to develop a communications strategy and increase the impact of the group’s research.
January 2019. Hiba participated in the Latin American Images Photo Competition. Her photo was chosen to be displayed in an exhibition and won People’s Choice Award.
December 2018. Hiba’s course Risk, Reliability, and Resilience Engineering is highlighted in ASCE’s Civil Engineering Magazine December 2018 issue.
December 2018. Hiba is selected Chair of the Engineering Infrastructure Specialty Group of the Society for Risk Analysis.
December 2018. Research grant awarded by the Tennessee Department of Transportation: Collaborative Research Project to Coordinate the Data From the CRASH Predictive Analytics Program Between TDOT and TDOSHS. Hiba is PI with co-PIs Abhishek Dubey and Dan Work.
September 2018. Hiba gives the Faculty Lecture during Family Weekend at Vanderbilt.
August 2018. Hiba visits the Center for Risk Management and Societal Safety at the University of Stavanger to work on research collaborations and give a guest lecture.
August 2018. Hiba is invited to serve on the Executive Committee of the newly launched Data Science Institute at Vanderbilt.
July 2018. Jinzhu and Dan pass their comprehensive exam. Congrats to both!
June 2018. Hiba gives a keynote talk at the Workshop on River Navigation and Inland Shipping in Bangladesh: Economic Importance and Impacts of Environmental Change in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
May 2018. Andrea passes her qualifying exam. Congrats, Andrea!
April 2018. Research grant awarded by the National Science Foundation: I-Corps: Assessing the Challenges of Energy Systems and Evaluating the Suitability of Mobile Energy Storage Transmission. Hiba is PI.
April 2018. Hiba gives a talk as part of the Presidential Dream Course Lecture Series at the University of Oklahoma.
December 2017. Jinzhu wins the student merit award of the Engineering Infrastructure Specialty Group at the Society for Risk Analysis in Arlington, VA.
December 2017. Hiba is quoted by WalletHub in their article on 2017’s Safest Cities in America.
September 2017. Hiba gave a seminar at Purdue University in the Department of Industrial Engineering.
September 2017. Andrea is chair of the 2017 Air & Waste Management Annual Meeting and Conference.
September 2017. Hiba’s article is mentioned as one of 5 essential reads on rebuilding after disasters.
September 2017. Jinzhu is selected as a finalist in the Society for Risk Analysis Engineering Infrastructure Specialty Group Student Merit Award. As a finalist, he produced this video about the research he is doing. Congrats Jinzhu on being a finalist, and best of luck for the final round!
August 2017. Hiba is named by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Susan Wente to Data Science Visions Working Group.
August 2017. Daniel (Dan) Perrucci and Andrew Stanford join our group as Ph.D. students. Welcome Dan and Andrew!
August 2017. Hiba gave a seminar at the National Building Research Organization of the Ministry of Disaster Management in Sri Lanka.
August 2017. Hiba is interviewed by Arnie Arnesen in her radio talk show, The Attitute.
July 2017. Hiba wrote an article in The Conversation, in which she compares infrastructure resilience and sustainability in the US and the rest of the world. The article was featured by a number of publications such as Salon, International Business Times, LA Times, and others.
June 2017. Research grant awarded by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center: Geospatial Investigation of Future Climate Conditions: The Impact on Supply Chain and USACE Water Resource Infrastructure Using Enhanced Simulation and Spatial Visualization Capability. Hiba is co-PI with Janey Camp as PI.
June 2017. Hiba is quoted in The Ledger in an article on preparing for potential floods in Nashville.
May 2017. Hiba visited Universidad de Los Andes where she gave a seminar in the Department of Industrial Engineering and was a guest lecturer in a course on Applications in Operations Research.
January 2017. Research grant awarded by the Department of Transportation: Maritime Transportation Research and Education Center. Vanderbilt’s VECTOR is a member of the University Transportation Center consortium led by University of Arkansas.
January 2017. Jinzhu Yu joins our group as a Ph.D. student. Welcome Jinzhu!
January 2017. Hiba receives the inaugural Littlejohn Dean’s Faculty Fellowship, an endowed fellowship for junior faculty members.
January 2017. Alexis (Lexi) Sheeler joins our group. She attends school at John Overton High School and does research with our group through the School of Science and Math at Vanderbilt. Welcome Lexi!
August 2016. Research grants awarded by the Tennessee Department of Transportation: (1) Cyber-Physical Applications for Freight Transportation System Management and Operations: Opportunities and Challenges. Hiba is PI and Mark Abkowitz is co-PI. (2) Multi-Modal Freight Transportation System Capacity and Diversion Assessment. Hiba is co-PI and Janey Camp is PI.
August 2016. Mackenzie Whitman and Andrea Gardiner join our group as a Ph.D. students. Welcome Mackenzie and Andrea!
August 2016. Research grant awarded by the National Science Foundation: Bayesian Methods for the Data-Driven Recovery of Networks: Measuring Impact and Building Resilience in Infrastructures and Communities. Hiba is PI, this is a collaborative project with Kash Barker.
July 2016. Research grant awarded by the National Science Foundation: Coastal SEES Collaborative Research: Multi-scale modeling and observations of landscape dynamics, mass balance, and network connectivity for a sustainable Ganges-Brahmaputra delta. Hiba is co-PI, this is a collaborative project led by Steve Goodbred.
May 2016. Hiba wins 2015 Outstanding PhD Dissertation of the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Oklahoma.
April 2016. Hiba is selected as a 2015 Outstanding Reviewer in Natural Hazards Review.
January 2016. Aparna Oruganti joins our group as Master’s of Engineering student. Welcome Aparna!
January 2016. Research grant awarded by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development as part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development National Resilience Competition: Mississippi River Supply Chain Management. This project is led by the University of Memphis. Hiba is the subproject investigator with Craig Philip as co-PI.
October 2015. Hiba gave a seminar at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
August 2015. Hiba joins Vanderbilt.