Biography
Fantahun M. Defersha received his (i) B.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1995 from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, (ii) MEng. degree (with thesis) in Mechanical Engineering with specialization on Production and Industrial Systems Engineering in 2000 from University of Roorkee (IIT-Roorkee), India, and (iii) PhD in Mechanical Engineering (Thesis area - Manufacturing System) in 2006 from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. Prior to moving to Canada, he was a lecturer in the Technology Faculty of Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, the country's most prestigious university. After completing his PhD at Concordia University in 2006, he became a Research Associate and a Part-time Faculty in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering of Concordia University and continued till December 2009. He joined the School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, CANADA, as an assistant professor in 2010 and promoted to tenured associate professor in 2015. His research interests are in (1) Manufacturing system analysis, flexible and cellular manufacturing systems, reconfigurable machine tools and reconfigurable manufacturing systems, part sequencing and scheduling, production and inventory planning, Vehicle routing and transportation network optimization, supply chain modeling and simulation, reverse logistics and remanufacturing systems analysis, artificial intelligence, meta-heuristics (2) development of hybrid heuristics for multi-objective optimization problems by combining analytical methods such as simplex algorithm and Lagrangian relaxation with search methods like genetic algorithm and tabu search, and (3) applications of parallel computing in those areas mentioned above.
Objective
To contribute analytical and computational skills and experience in modeling, meta-heuristics, parallel computing, computer simulation in the areas of manufacturing systems design, production planning and scheduling, logistics, quality management, productivity and cost analysis to the academia and practitioners and deliver the state-of-the-art knowledge to students in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Operations Management.
Personal Profile
Computer literate in – multiple programming languages (C++/C#, Visual Basic); applications software (Minitab, LATEX, Excel, PowerPoint, Ms-Word); simulation package (ARENA); optimizations packages (LINGO and CPLEX); CadCam Packages (AutoCAD, SolidWorks, MasterCam); and Parallel Computing using Message Passing Interface (MPI)
Registered professional engineer in Ontario and a rising professional in operations research and manufacturing systems with experience in mathematical modeling, meta-heuristics, industrial systems simulation, and parallel computing;
Author and co-author for several refereed journals articles in production and operations management fields
More than five years experience in university teaching in Ethiopia as a lecturer with high scores in students’ evaluations (1996-2002); Seven years academic experience as a PhD Student, Research Assistant, Research Associate, and Part-time Faculty at Concordia University, Montreal Quebec, Canada (2002-2009); and research and teaching experience in the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada as an assistant professor (2010 to 2015), and then as tenured associate professor (2015 to date).
Education
September 2002 - May 2006 (Ph.D.)
Concordia University, Montreal Quebec, CANADA PhD in Mechanical Engineering (Under the industrial engineering program). Thesis title: An Integrated Approach in the Design of Cellular Manufacturing Systems for Dynamic Production Requirements.
September 1998 - January 2000 (M.Eng. with thesis)
Roorkee University (IIT Roorkee), Uttar Pradesh , INDIA Master of Engineering (First Division with Honors) in Mechanical Engineering with specialization in Production and Industrial Systems Engineering. Medium of instruction: English
September 1990 - July 1995 (B.Sc.)
Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA Bachelor of Science (Distinction) in Mechanical Engineering. Medium of instruction: English
Employment
July 2015 to date - Associate Professor, University of Guelph
Research:
Manufacturing Systems Modeling and Analysis; Manufacturing Systems Scheduling; Industrial Systems Simulation; Design and Analysis of Experiment; Life cycle analysis of bio-materials and bio-composites in engineering applications
Teaching:
Integrated Manufacturing Systems (CIM); Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM); Kinematics and Dynamics (Theory of Machines); Discrete Systems Modeling and Simulation; Optimization in Engineering (Operations Research); Design and Analysis of Experiment with Engineering Applications.
Jan. 2010 to June 2015 - Assistant Professor, University of Guelph
Research:
Manufacturing Systems Modeling and Analysis; Manufacturing Systems Scheduling; Industrial Systems Simulation; Design and Analysis of Experiment;
Teaching:
Integrated Manufacturing Systems (CIM); Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM); Kinematics and Dynamics (Theory of Machines); Discrete Systems Modeling and Simulation (Grad); Optimization in Engineering (Grad);
May 2006 to Dec. 2009 - Research Associate - Concordia University
Research:
Flexible Flowshop and Job Shop Scheduling; Mathematical Modeling; Parallel computation; Cost Analysis
Teaching:
Operations Research; Advanced Operations Research; Industrial Systems Simulation; Production and Inventory Systems Management;
Sept. 2002 to April 2006 - Research Assistant - Concordia University
Research:
Design and analysis of cellular manufacturing systems
Sept 1995 to August 2002 - Lecturer - Addis Ababa University
Teaching:
Industrial Management and Engineering Economy; Production Engineering; Statistical Quality Control; Tool and Die Design; Introduction to Probability and Statistics; Descriptive Geometry and Technical Drawing; Machine Drawing; Strength of Material; Engineering Mechanics (Dynamics); Engineering Mechanics (Vibration)
Honors
Campaign for a New Millennium Graduate Scholarship (in Recognition of Superior Academic Achievement) - School of Graduate Studies For a period of tenure of 2 terms starting from September 1, 2004 and ending April 30, 2005; Tenable in Ph. D. Mechanical Engineering
Concordia University International Tuition Fees Remission Award For a period of tenure of 4 terms starting from May 1, 2004 and ending August 31, 2005; Tenable in Ph. D. Mechanical Engineering
Concordia University Graduate Fellowship For a period of tenure of 3 terms starting from September 1, 2004 and ending August 31, 2005; Tenable in Ph. D. Mechanical Engineering
Concordia University Partial Tuition for International Students For a period of tenure of 1 term starting from September 1, 2005; Tenable in Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering
