Dr. Louis A. Martin-Vega is the Dean of Engineering at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. With more than 9,100 students, 750 faculty and staff, and $154 million in annual research expenditures, NC State’s College of Engineering is internationally recognized for its outstanding research, education and outreach programs. It is the only engineering college in the nation leading two National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Centers (ERC) – the ASSIST Center and FREEDM Systems Center.
Martin-Vega came to NC State in 2006 after spending five years as dean of engineering at the University of South Florida. He has also held several prestigious positions at NSF, including acting head of its Engineering Directorate and director of NSF’s Division of Design, Manufacture and Industrial Innovation. Additionally, he has served as chairman of the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering at Lehigh University and Lockheed Professor in the College of Engineering at the Florida Institute of Technology. He has also held tenured faculty positions at the University of Florida and the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. He is the author or co-author of more than 100 journal articles, book chapters and other publications and has made numerous keynote and related presentations at national and international forums.
His research and teaching interests are in production and manufacturing systems, logistics and distribution, operations management and engineering education. His work has been supported by NSF, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the US Air Force, Harris Semiconductor, and Hewlett-Packard, among other sources. A registered professional engineer in Florida and Puerto Rico, he is a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and a member of INFORMS, the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), Tau Beta Pi, Alpha Pi Mu and Sigma Xi.
Martin-Vega’s many honors from IIE include receiving the Albert Holzman Distinguished Educator Award in 1999; serving as IIE’s president in 2007-08; receiving the professional society’s UPS Award for Minority Advancement in Industrial Engineering in 2010; and being given IIE’s highest honor, the Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Industrial Engineering Award, in 2012.
For his commitment to college education and the promotion of diversity, Martin-Vega was recognized in 2000 with the Hispanic Engineering National Achievement Award – Higher Education Category from HENAAC. In 2011, he was inducted into the HENAAC Hall of Fame.
Martin-Vega was inducted into the Pan American Academy of Engineering in 2002. In 2007 he received the Tampa Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) National Hispanic Scientist Award and was named that same year by Hispanic Business magazine as one of its 100 Most Influential Hispanics. He was recognized in 2008 as the Outstanding Engineer in North Carolina by the North Carolina Society of Engineers. In 2009, he received the Industrial and Systems Engineering Alumni Leadership Award from the University of Florida.
Martin-Vega will serve as the 2013-15 chair of the ASEE Engineering Deans Council Executive Board. He is currently the board’s vice chair and is also serving as the council’s Public Policy Committee chair for 2011-13. Martin-Vega received his BS in industrial engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, an MS in operations research from New York University and ME and PhD degrees in industrial and systems engineering from the University of Florida.