Three new faculty members have joined the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering starting in the fall 2025 semester, bringing with them a range of expertise in various areas.
Samuel Olatunji
Assistant Professor
Olatunji completed his PhD in Industrial Engineering at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, and his postdoctoral research training in Applied Health Sciences, at the University of Illinois. His research program focuses on designing human-robot systems and interfaces that can improve the lives of people in their everyday activities. Olatunji is trained as a human-factors engineer specializing in human-robot interaction for health and wellness. His research addresses interaction design challenges for social and assistive robots supporting individuals in their daily living activities. His expertise as a human-robot interaction researcher helps guide robot-based project developments through theory and methodologically sound approaches and advances fundamental knowledge and practice in human-systems integration.
“The goal is to design for use, such that everyone can use robots in the way they want, when they want, with whom they want, where they want, and how they want, to improve their overall quality of life. I am excited to join ISE at UT and looking forward to collaborations that will make that goal a reality.”
Soham Das
Assistant Professor
Das’s appointment at UT is part of the Science-Informed Artificial Intelligence cluster at Tennessee, a strategic initiative to foster interdisciplinary collaboration at the intersection of AI and the domain sciences. Das received his PhD in operations research from Texas A&M University in 2025. Das’s research sits at the interface of game theory, optimization, and reinforcement learning, with a focus on multiagent decision making in complex and uncertain environments. His work addresses fundamental challenges in designing safe and efficient learning algorithms for agents operating in dynamic systems, such as energy grids, autonomous transportation networks, and social or economic systems.
“It’s a privilege and an honor to be a member of the faculty at the University of Tennessee. I plan to build new bridges across academic units and advance the frontiers of science and technology through research, teaching, and collaboration.”
Mohammad Shahin
Teaching Assistant Professor
Shahin’s work explores data-driven approaches for addressing challenges in business, industry, and engineering. His research interests include enterprise engineering, business process improvement, healthcare, decision support, cybersecurity, and manufacturing systems, with a particular focus on how Industry 4.0 and 5.0 technologies can be meaningfully integrated into systems engineering. Shahin has taught a range of engineering areas and is a frequent participant in FAIM (Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing) international conference.
“Joining the ISE department at UT offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to a vibrant academic community, while also building lasting collaborations that support both professional development and personal fulfillment.”
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey ([email protected])